


Confessions of an Ultimate Mortician

by Vikkikate89



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Graphic Description of Corpses, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Murder, Past Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, Schizophrenia, Schizotypal Personality Disorder, Self-Harm, Sex, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:27:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 59,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22898737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vikkikate89/pseuds/Vikkikate89
Summary: Eden has never been afraid to handle even the worst of corpses, being truly talented at making them look beautiful and peaceful before they're laid to rest. But when she winds up trapped in the killing game, she thinks it must be some sick joke and prays she never has to use her talents there. But of course, that's not how it goes. As the people around her begin to die and she has to clean up the mess, she wonders how far she can go before she reaches her breaking point.And then there's Korekiyo and Kokichi. One who loves to understand her talent from an anthropological perspective, and one who is just eager to hear another corpse story. As long as she still has her two unlikely friends, she can survive this...
Relationships: Oma Kokichi/Original Female Character(s), Shinguji Korekiyo/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 55





	1. The First Victims

**Author's Note:**

> There are going to be some changes from the original plot, mainly with the timing in which certain events take place, but also the conditions of some of the bodies. I've done my best to research as much as I can about mortuary science to try to be as accurate as possible, but there may still be some inaccuracies or moments I bend the truth a bit to fit the plot. This will also not have the same ending as the game, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Hope you enjoy!

The soft knock on my lab’s door made me turn my head and lower the mask from my face. “Yes?” I called out, not wanting to open the door. Not while I’d just opened up the locker. There was no answer, but I knew I’d heard that knock. With a sigh, I closed the locker back up and made my way to answer the door, unsure if it was going to be Monokuma or one of the Monokubs waiting for me.

Instead it was Shuichi. His eyes were still red and puffy and it put my heart in a knot. I knew why he was there.

“I… Just wanted to see if it’s true. That… Th- That they’re in here…” They being Rantaro and Kaede. Ever since my lab had been opened to me and I’d counted the number of lockers, it had become obvious immediately who they were intended for when you did the math. After the trial and the horrifying execution, my lab had been my first stop, finding that sure enough, two of the lockers were now occupied. 

“Yeah,” I answered sadly. “I haven’t fully looked either of them over yet but they’re here.” Shuichi didn’t say anything and I frowned, not wanting to invite him in right away. There were other matters on my mind and I was realizing that I really should be having a certain conversation first. Not with just him, but the others as well. “I know everyone headed to the dorms… but could you ask them to just meet me in the main area of that building? Just outside their rooms? I wanna bring something up with them before we all go to bed tonight.” Because I sure as hell doubted I was going to be able to sleep.

Shuichi nodded, looking too lost in his head to really question what I was asking. “Sure.” He sniffled and stepped away, leaving me to remove my medical gear and lock up my lab before heading back to the dorms. When I arrived, everyone was gathered right outside of their rooms, some of them already in pajamas, others still looking just as rattled as they had at the trial and execution. 

“Maaan, why’re you making us stay up?” Kokichi immediately complained. “This better not be boring.”

“Will you shut up, already?” Kaito snapped at him. “Have some damn respect.”

“Guys!” Maki’s voice cut in before turning her eyes to me. “Why are we here?”

I sighed, folding my arms over my chest. “I wanted to talk to you guys and see how you feel about something.”

“Oh?” came Korekiyo’s voice. “Would this have anything to do with your lab?” I nodded my head and there came an eerie silence that followed for a few moments.

“So… they really are in there,” Kokichi finally spoke up, but unlike his usual immature self, there was no smile or hint of a joke in there. It may have been a lie, but he looked unusually somber.

“Both of them,” I confirmed. “And that’s why I wanted to talk to you guys and run an idea past you.”

“Little late for an autopsy, don’t ya think?” Miu interjected.

“That’s a coroner’s job, thundercunt,” Kokichi replied with a smirk. Miu squealed in horror and it took all my restraint to keep from cracking up even if I was a little grateful for the moment of humor. We needed a laugh right now, though preferably not at anyone else’s expense. Even if that someone was Miu. 

“Anyway…” I said, attempting to regain their attention. “I don’t wanna just leave them in there. Even if we escape there’s no promise we’ll ever get their bodies back and I don’t like the idea of leaving them behind for Monokuma to do whatever he wants with them.”

“O- Okay…” Kaito replied nervously. “But what else are ya gonna do with them? It’s not like we have a lot of options.”

“We could bury them,” I offered. Everyone glanced around at each other and back to me. “I mean… it’s not ideal. I don’t know what they would have wanted for themselves, but I doubt it was being left forgotten in cold storage.” I sighed. “I normally would never be making decisions like this without having someone’s death plan or at least their families’ input but… right now it’s just us. And we don’t know how long it’ll be that way. That’s why I’m asking what you think.”

“Where would we bury them?” Himiko asked. “There isn’t a cemetery around here.” But before I could reply, Gonta stirred.

“Gonta could help dig places for the bodies to rest. Gonta wouldn’t mind helping. It’s… wh- what true gentleman would do… right?” His voice wavered as he offered, his emotions still very raw from the night we’d endured. And he wasn’t the only one. Shuichi hadn’t said a word this whole time but I could see the tears rolling down his cheeks again as the rest of us spoke.

“I’ll help too!” Tenko chimed in, wiping her cheeks. “K- Kaede and Rantaro deserve better th- than a freezer.”

“Then I’m helping too,” Kaito agreed. “For Kaede and Rantaro.”

“Does this mean we’ll be holding a funeral?” Maki asked grimly. 

“That’s the other thing I wanted to ask,” I answered. “It might help to be able to say goodbye. And I can even work on the bodies to make sure they’re… presentable, for lack of a better word. If anyone would like that. I mean, I’m already planning to prep them just to give them some last bit of dignity before we lay them to rest. But it could give us all a chance to see them one last time and say goodbye.” 

There was a long stretch of silence as I waited patiently for them to answer.

“I’d… like to be able to say goodbye to them,” Himiko finally said.

Korekiyo nodded his head as well. “While death is merely a transitional phase rather than the ultimate end, I too can appreciate the sentiment of bidding the dead a fond farewell.” He hugged himself and closed his eyes. “Even death can be beautiful.”

“Kiyo sounds like he’s a little too into this,” Miu grumbled. “But sure. If it’ll help you guys get off your asses and stop moping, I’ll go with it. I can help put together some caskets for Rantaro and Kaede.”

“Hey! Want any help handling the bodies?” Kokichi asked, that smile back on his face.

“No,” I answered almost before he finished speaking, receiving a pout in response. 

“Maaan… But digging graves is so booooring...”

“Didn’t I warn you?!” Kaito snarled.

“Nee-heehee!”

With that, the conversation more or less petered out and everyone disappeared back into their dorms. Almost everyone. 

“Hey, Eden?” Kaito said as he hesitated in his doorway. “I know you probably wanted to get to work right away, but I think you’d better get some rest. I really don’t trust this place at night.”

I wanted to argue, but he did have a point. Night was when we were the most vulnerable and even if I wanted to believe no one else would do something like this, that didn’t mean any of us should take risks. “Yeah. You’re right.” I headed for the stairs to my room. “See you in the morning, Kaito.”

* * *

Before the morning announcement went off, I was already up, showering and getting dressed for the day. I wanted to give myself some time to get prepped and begin embalming the bodies. Not to my surprise, as soon as my door opened, I heard a second open and saw Kokichi’s head poking out like he’d been just waiting on the other side for me to get up. “Jeez, you got up early,” he complained as he stepped out of his room.

“What are you doing?” I asked, still not awake enough to want to pretend to be social.

“I told you last night, didn’t I? I wanna help!”

“And I said no,” I answered, heading for the door. “It’s not a game and they aren’t toys you can just play around with.”

But a tug on my sleeve stopped me and I turned my head, surprised at what I saw. Kokichi was standing still, clinging to my sleeve and staring at the floor. His hair cast shadows over his eyes but I saw tear trails forming. It could have been a lie but…

“I don’t… wanna just do nothing,” he replied. “There’s enough people helping to dig their graves and I’m the only other one who won’t be squeamish around their bodies.” I was still waiting for the lie or his giggle… any hint that he was bluffing. But when he looked me in the eyes I knew it was real. I’d been around grief too many times to doubt him. “I d- don’t care how gross it is. I wanna help. I wanna help you get them ready.”

I tried to remember all the reasons why this was a terrible idea. Kokichi was a very convincing liar when he wanted to be. But his eyes were making me doubt his dishonesty. I sighed. “Okay. But you have to do exactly what I tell you, okay? Don’t touch anything without my say and listen to everything I tell you. Got it?” He nodded his head, his grin returning.

“Nee-heehee! You got it!” 

And against my better judgment, my plumb-haired helper followed me out of the dorms and back into the school where I took him to my lab. Once we were inside a thought occurred to me, so I looked around, finding a sheet of paper and a black marker to make a sign:

**LAB IN USE  
PLEASE KNOCK**

I handed it over to Kokichi along with a roll of tape. “Tape this on the outside of the door. Last thing we want is someone walking in here and seeing something that scares them.” He took the sign and tape from me to do as I said while I headed over to grab some protective gear for the both of us. When he returned, I talked him through getting dressed and washed up, then headed to Rantaro’s locker first. “If you need to stop, it’s okay. Not gonna force you to stay.”

“Hey, I’m not running anywhere,” he insisted. So with that, I opened Rantaro’s locker and pulled him out. The body was wrapped in a white sheet with only his feet visible. “Is he gonna be naked?” Kokichi asked before I could uncover the body. 

“He should be. Depends on how Monokuma left him to me,” I answered. When I uncovered Rantaro, I heard Kokichi make a sound and I looked back at him, worried he was already at his limit. I wouldn’t blame him if he was. Rantaro was naked but that wasn’t what startled him.

“H- His eyes…”

I looked down and frowned. The eyes and mouth were both open, as was normal. Most people thought of corpses and immediately pictured someone who looked like they were asleep. Not fogged over eyes and a mouth hanging open. But that was the reality of death. “When the body’s circulation stops, it makes the eyes get cloudy like that,” I explained, always finding that explanations were a way to easier deal with the things I regularly saw no matter how morbid. Knowing the science behind it was… comforting. “Before we close anything though, we’re going to need to wash him. If you still wanna help, I’ll show you how.”

And like that, we set to work, cleaning off Rantaro’s body while I also talked Kokichi through massaging and bending his arms and legs to help relieve rigor mortis. At first, Kokichi had been very quiet and somber, unable to so much as crack a joke or even a smile. I was honestly surprised to see him taking things so seriously. “I still wanna know what his talent was,” he finally said as we finished up and I pulled out a set of eye caps. 

“I’m guessing it wasn’t Ultimate Shot Put Champ…” I muttered without thinking. I froze and looked at Kokichi, ready to apologize, but he snorted and finally smiled for the first time in a while.

“Hahaha! Wow, Eden. You do have a sense of humor after all!” he chuckled.

“Heh… Have to when you do this for a living.” I finally let myself smile and then went about setting the eyes before showing Kokichi how I’d close the mouth with the needle injector. The more we worked and I explained things, the more comfortable he seemed to become with the situation. Eventually, he was acting like his usual self again for the most part, but managed to somehow behave himself at the same time. Before long, we had Rantaro ready for makeup, but I wanted to save that part for later. After covering him up, I moved over to Kaede’s locker and braced myself. Truthfully, I hadn’t taken a look at her remains yet and given the manner of her execution, I was unsure what to expect. 

“This one may be too much,” I warned Kokichi. “I didn’t see the state of her body after Monokuma finished her off, so I don’t know what we’ll be dealing with.”

“I just watched you pack Rantaro’s asshole with cotton. I think I can handle anything at this point,” Kokichi huffed, but I could tell that was a lie by how he nervously eyed the door to Kaede’s locker. I decided not to react to his comment and instead opened up the locker to take a look. 

“Oh..!” I gasped, surprised to see a normal body-shaped lump under the sheet. I pulled her out slowly and then uncovered her to take a look. There was damage, but not nearly what I had been expecting when I’d watched her die. “Okay…” I said as I looked her over. “It’s going to be a little different this time but we can do this.” I looked up and was pleasantly surprised to see Kokichi nodding his head in agreement, handling this much better than I feared he would.

Kaede took longer to prepare than Rantaro, but once we had her embalmed and ready for the same stage as Rantaro, I covered her up and heaved a sigh. “I’m starving. Wanna wash up and grab some breakfast?”

Kokichi looked at me in disbelief. “Really? You can really just eat after that?” My brow furrowed and I opened my mouth to respond but he snickered. “Nee-heehee! That was just a lie. Kirumi’ll probably make whatever we ask her!”

“Yeah well not while you’re still in that gear. C’mon. I’ll show you where to toss things.” Once we had our gear off and disposed of in the right bins, we headed back to the dorms for a shower to get rid of the smell of chemicals. 

* * *

There had been some discussion between all of us as to how we wanted to handle the burials. Angie had plead her case for a funeral that honored Atua while others pushed for a more traditional ceremony. Ultimately we reached a conclusion we could all agree with. Just a final farewell with one last chance to see their bodies before their burial. Once it was decided, Kokichi and I finished dressing the bodies and I showed him how apply the makeup until both Rantaro and Kaede looked like they were peacefully sleeping.

By the time we were done, Miu and Keebo arrived with the caskets and helped me place the bodies inside. Just as we were getting ready to bring them outside where we wanted to have our own version of a ceremony, there came a light knock on the door and I headed over to answer it, finding Shuichi on the other side with something in his hand. It was a CD. 

“Hey…” he said, determined not to look at the caskets behind me. “I don’t know if it’s too late to make a request but… there’s something special I’d like to have at the funeral. For Kaede.” I reached for the album in his hand. 

“Debussy?” I asked.

“Yeah. She… She told me once she w- wanted to play Clair de Lune for me but… n- never got to.” His voice was thick with grief and tears began to stain his cheeks.

“Of course we can do that,” I answered, unable to stop myself from reaching out and pulling him into a hug. My own heart was beginning to ache. Now that the work was almost done, there was nothing to keep me too busy from thinking about our situation, and the reality of how Kaede and Rantaro died was setting in. 

Shuichi hugged me back, tight at first, but I soon felt the movement of his head finally looking up towards the caskets. I let go slowly and took a step back to look him in the eye. “Hey.. would you like to see her? Before we bring her out?” He hesitated at first, but then nodded his head and I turned around to the other three still in my lab. “Can you guys step out for a moment? Please?”

Surprisingly not a word was said from any of them and they slipped past us respectfully before I closed the door behind them. Taking Shuichi by the hand, I walked him over to Kaede’s casket and let him take a look inside at how she rested. The caskets themselves were nothing too fancy or extravagant, but they looked better than what you would have expected at such short notice. Miu had found enough supplies in storage to assemble their structures and Angie had helped to paint beautiful designs on them while Tsumugi had sewn together some light bedding for both the bodies to rest on top of. It was a little disturbing how smoothly we had all pulled this off.

Shuichi looked Kaede over, his tears starting to flow heavier until he was openly crying. I reached over and rested a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay to touch her if you want. You won’t hurt anything.” I gestured towards Kaede’s hands and after some hesitation, Shuichi gently reached out to rest his hand on top of hers.

“Sh- She… looks like she sl- sleeping…” he whispered as he rubbed at his eyes.

I nodded my head and remained quiet, letting him spend as much time as he needed before we finally began to move the caskets outside where the others were waiting.


	2. Of Squirrels and Maggots

The ceremony only took an hour at the most. When it was time, we all helped to lower the caskets into the ground and when the others began to fill the graves, I excused myself, needing time alone. There were tools in my lab that still needed to be sterilized and I needed to be sure everything was back where it belonged. When I was done, I wasn’t ready to visit with the others. The weight of everything had finally fully hit and I felt too guilty to turn to them for comfort. I was the one in charge of preparing the bodies and helping them through the funeral. That made me feel like I had a responsibility to keep my grief to myself. And it was not as though I’d known Kaede or Rantaro for very long… but that didn’t mean their deaths didn’t affect me.

The situation was unfair. Our captor, whoever it was, was a sadistic monster. They had wanted to see this happen. They were going to press for it to keep happening if we did nothing. It couldn’t happen again. It couldn’t. 

I don’t know how long the knocking at my lab’s door had stretched for, but when I finally realized it was there, I stirred and blinked, suddenly aware that I’d been crying. “H- Hold on…” I called back with a sniffle. I grabbed a tissue and started drying my eyes as I made my way to see who it was.

Korekiyo stood with a small tray of food in his hands, not reacting to the tears I was trying to dry. “No one had seen you in some time so I thought I might find you in here.”

“Oh…” I replied, rubbing my eyes. “C- Come in.” I stepped aside, then noticed the sign I’d made Kokichi tape up was still there. I pulled it off and tossed it in a nearby bin. “Is that for me?” I asked, looking at the tray in his hands.

“Ah, yes. Kirumi tasked me with making sure you had something to eat after all the work you put into today,” he replied, looking around.

“Everything’s been sterilized,” I assured him. “Unless if you wanted to keep me company and my lab makes you too uncomfortable…” 

“Kehehe… Not at all. I trust the Ultimate Mortician knows how to keep her lab properly cleansed. And I do not fear death.” I hopped onto a counter and patted the spot beside me. He approached and placed the tray there, then leaned against the counter opposite me while I looked at what Kirumi had sent with him. “I had proposed that a cup of tea would be comforting, but then Kirumi reminded me you prefer coffee and sent me with that instead.” 

I could smell it. She had even doctored it just the way I liked. “I was trying not to make her go to any trouble for me,” I murmured with a sad smile. “Of course she still found a way to do it.” There was also some fruit and a small plate of cookies that looked rather out of place. They were frosted with an ungodly amount of sprinkles seemingly dumped on them. Not Kirumi’s usual handiwork. 

“Those are from Kokichi,” Korekiyo explained, having seen me staring at them. “I would suggest you eat them with caution, but apparently Kirumi was supervising him herself while he baked and decorated them.”

I had to giggle a little. “He made me cookies? That’s… weirdly adorable. Please don’t tell him I said that.” I took a bite out of one of them and reached for my coffee, really needing it. “I hope it’s okay that I’m hiding away right now,” I said between sips.

“There was some expressed concern, but we all assumed that perhaps you needed some space. You seemed to be composing yourself well in spite of everything.” He glanced at the tray and his mask shifted enough to make me wonder if he was smiling. “Kehehe… though he will not admit it, I believe it was concern that motivated Kokichi to bake those. That or he was grateful.”

“I was surprised at how well he did,” I admitted, taking another sip. “I thought he was either going to be lying about not being squeamish or he’d just be a nuisance.” I wasn’t going to out him for how he’d actually tearfully begged me to let him help. 

Korekiyo’s eyes began to wander curiously around my lab again and I watched him for a moment. “I can give you a tour if you like?” I finally offered, popping a strawberry in my mouth.

He turned his head to look at me. “I will confess I am rather curious… To a degree, I even regret not offering my assistance as well, though I was under the assumption you preferred to work alone.”

I nodded my head. “I honestly did… But Kokichi was surprisingly helpful.” I hopped off the counter and began walking him around the lab, treating it as a step by step lesson as to how I would typically prepare a corpse. He listened to me, very attentively and seemed to save his questions for the end. After I walked him through what we had done for Kaede and Rantaro, I walked him over to the cremation oven, explaining how that would have been handled differently.

“Why was that not offered when you first discussed your plans with us?” Korekiyo finally asked as he peeked inside the oven.

“I… just had a feeling that being able to see them one last time, especially if I could effectively take care of them so they looked like they were resting and serene, that it would give the others some peace. I’ve had loved ones that were cremated right after they died and I always felt this regret that I couldn’t see the body and say goodbye. It just felt like… like something significant was taken away. Though I respect that it was their decision.” I sighed, hugging myself. “Though… I guess it was selfish of me to just make assumptions.”

Korekiyo stepped back so I could close up the oven once more, then looked at me thoughtfully. “Am I correct in assuming you take death to be the final parting?”

I blinked at the question. “Are you… asking if I believe in an afterlife? Or ghosts?” He nodded his head. “In all honesty… I don’t know what happens after we die. I mean, obviously I know what happens to our physical bodies when we die, but whether we really have a soul and what would happen to it after we die? I don’t know. And I don’t think anyone knows except for those that are dead.”

He looked disappointed by that answer and I braced myself for a lecture of some sort. “I see…” he sighed. “While there is something to be respected in admitting the words, ‘I don’t know,’ it is rather reckless to surrender oneself to the idea that one will never know the answer, wouldn’t you agree?”

I thought about what he was saying and shrugged. “I guess… This is just one of those big questions where I’m skeptical anyone has any solid evidence for an answer. I know there are a lot of different beliefs and theories out there all over the world. How we deal with death defines us as a society. Entire religions center themselves around the question of what happens when we die. I just… haven’t seen anything, personally, to convince me we have any answers yet. That’s why my answer right now is ‘I don’t know.’” 

“Then am I to assume your mind is open to exploring possibilities?” he asked.

I nodded my head. “Of course. And just because right now my answer is ‘I don’t know,’ that doesn’t mean I’m closed-minded about finding an answer. Right now my assumption is that the only people who have an actual answer are the dead because… well, they’re the ones experiencing it,” I chuckled. “But if I’m proven wrong I’ll gladly admit it. I wouldn’t want to just live in denial.”

While I couldn’t see his lips, I knew he was smiling. “Perhaps we could discuss this topic further another time?” he offered. “It is growing rather late.” 

I glanced at the clock in my lab and my eyes widened. “Shit. The night time announcement’s gonna play soon.” I picked up the tray from the counter, deciding I could finish it back in my room. When I was sure Korekiyo was following me, I headed out and made sure to lock up my lab. We walked together back to the dorms in silence and once we were inside I wished him a good night and headed to my room.

I had barely gotten into my pajamas before the doorbell began rapidly ringing to the tune of ‘Shave and a haircut’. I furrowed my brow as I went to see who it was, but as I just barely opened the door, plumb hair zipped past me before I could say a word and there came the sound of a body hopping on top of my bed, followed by a ‘nee-heehee!’. I shut the door and turned around.

“Can I help you?” I asked sarcastically, going to the mirror to braid my hair for the night.

Kokichi folded his legs as he sat on my bed and looked at the tray on the nightstand. “Aww... You never finished my cookies!”

“Sorry. I got caught up talking with Korekiyo and it was night time before I knew it. That’s why I brought them back here.” I tied off my hair and turned to the bed, catching him in the middle of stealing one for himself. I didn’t say anything and took a seat next to him, grabbing one fas well. 

“So why’d you disappear?” he asked. “We’d barely gotten them in the ground and you were gone.” He grabbed my coffee mug for a sip… then gagged and put it back. It really was like watching a child and I had to laugh.

“I had to finish cleaning up my lab,” I answered, which was partially true. But he was already narrowing his eyes and giving me  _ that _ look. The one he always gave when he knew someone was lying.

“For five hours?” he asked skeptically. 

Jesus. Had it really been that long? I sighed. “Wanted to be alone,” I finally answered, picking up my coffee.

“Whyyyy?” he continued to pry.

“Because. I just did.” I really didn’t want to talk about it. “That why you’re here?”

“No,” he finally answered, stealing another cookie and stuffing it into his mouth. He proceeded to talk and chew at the same time, and I kept an eye out for flying crumbs. “I wahnned to ashk if you haff any shtoriesh…” 

I bit back a laugh. “Shtoriesh?” I repeated to tease him.

He chewed faster and swallowed, almost choking. “Stories! I wanted to know if you had any stories!”

“What kind of stories?” I chuckled, getting up to grab him a soda from my mini-fridge. I handed it over and sat back down while he cracked it open.

“You know. Corpse stories. You work with dead bodies all the time, riiiight? You gotta have some cool stories.” 

Of course he would ask that. 

“I do… but most of my favorite dead body stories are ones that have nothing to do with me.”

“I don’t care about those!” he complained. “I wanna know what you personally have seen. And I’ll know if you’re lying.”

I thought for a while, trying to pick what he might consider to be a “good” one.

“I once accidentally cremated a squirrel,” I finally answered. Kokichi looked like he was ready to say that was boring but I kept talking before he could interject. “That morning, someone was cleaning the room where we handle the cremations, and for whatever reason, they decided to leave the doors open while they worked. Well out of nowhere, this squirrel came darting in. So this guy and some of my other coworkers go into a panic, trying to chase this squirrel out, but nothing they were doing was working. They couldn’t even catch the stupid thing. Eventually, it just jumped into the oven and they decided to shut it in and call animal control to come remove it.

“Unfortunately… I hadn’t been there while any of this was happening, so I had no idea. And I had a body that was ready to go in the oven…”

Kokichi choked on his soda and was already laughing as he pieced together what was coming.

“No one told me what had happened, and the squirrel had been shut in about a half hour before I’d gotten there. So I just went in and got the body inside, not knowing there’s a squirrel in there. And for whatever reason, the poor thing didn’t run out when I opened the door which… I wish that had happened even if it would’ve scared the hell out of me. But I get the body inside, close the door and start up the oven.

“About halfway through the cremation process is when animal control suddenly shows up and when they stepped inside with my coworkers, everyone started going into a panic and I had no idea why.”

“Oh m- my god!” Kokichi cackled. 

“To be fair… it was my fault for not alerting anyone I was about to use the oven. I was still pretty new and that’s a big rule we all have to follow. So because of my screwup, we ended up cremating a squirrel alongside a dead body.” I was laughing too now, remembering how horrified I’d been at the time. “I had to be the one to break it to the family, but thankfully they had a sense of humor about it. When we were getting ready to put the ashes in the urn… they showed up with an acorn and asked to add it to the urn.”

We were both laughing pretty hard and it was honestly the best I’d felt all day. Together, we polished off the cookies and fruit on the tray while he asked me for more stories, and eventually we both fell asleep.

I still wasn’t sure what to think of Kokichi, but I was glad he was there to help take my mind off the day we’d all endured.

* * *

The next morning, when I woke up, Kokichi was still out cold, snoring softly with frosting and sprinkles on his face. I huffed in amusement, and slipped away to shower and get dressed for the morning. When I returned, he was sitting up and rubbing his eyes. “Shit… I didn’t wanna fall asleep in here,” he grumbled.

“I think we both crashed at the same time,” I admitted with a shrug. “Or I would’ve kicked you out before that.” Just then, the morning announcement played and after the obnoxious monokubs finished, Kokichi hopped off the bed and stretched.

“I’d better shower and get changed. Later.” With a lazy wave, he groggily left my room and I finished getting ready for breakfast.

Inside the dining hall, everyone was gathered like usual, though the air seemed a bit lighter, like everyone was starting to move on from the loss of our two classmates. Maybe our makeshift funeral had helped? I found a place to sit while Kirumi served me when suddenly, Tenko was in my field of view, giving me an accusing look.

“I saw that degenerate leaving your room this morning!” she snapped at me. “If he broke in, I can take him out for you!”

Korekiyo was sitting down beside me as she spoke, cocking an eyebrow.

“He didn’t,” I said, waving Tenko off. “He wanted to talk and we wound up staying up so late we both crashed without meaning to. That’s all that happened.”

She shook her head. “That’s how they try to trick you. Soon he’ll be asking for hugs just so he can feel your breasts pressed against him.”

I rolled my eyes. “I really hate your attitude towards men so just drop it and let me eat.” 

She opened her mouth as if she had more she wanted to say, but Korekiyo spoke up this time. “I think it best you heed her request. I am sure your warnings have been noted.”

“Noted and tossed out,” I muttered. Tenko gave me a defeated look, then got to her feet.

“Just remember, us girls gotta stick together! You may not see a reason to be worried, but I’ll make sure no degenerates break into your room and take advantage of you.”

“Noted.” With that she left and I rolled my eyes. “Did she really just suggest that all the men here are potential rapists? Seriously?”

“Kehehe… I would not take her words so negatively. Her logic is certainly flawed but one must consider what sort of background she had which taught her to think that way.”

I sighed and nodded my head. “Maybe… Maybe her master taught her to think like that. Maybe something happened to her. Who knows. Doesn’t make what she says right.” I started drinking my coffee while Korekiyo was handed a cup of tea by Kirumi.

“So Kokichi was in your room all night?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I answered, picking up some bacon. “He wanted to know if I had any funny corpse stories. I told him a few, he stole most of my cookies, and then we both conked out.”

“Kehehe… I suppose the occasional amusing story would come with the territory. They’re even more amusing when they’re from a place that is least expected.” I watched him sip tea through his mask, wondering how on earth he did that without making it wet. Why was he always wearing that? “Have you any plans for today?” he asked, breaking my train of thought.

“Oh… I heard some new areas were opened up yesterday. Wanted to explore them. Especially Gonta’s lab.” I looked to make sure the large man was nowhere nearby before whispering, “Don’t tell him, but I love bugs. I’m afraid he’s gonna hug me and I’m not awake enough to be crushed.”

Amusement filled Korekiyo’s eyes as he nodded his head. “Not a word,” he assured me.

When we finished up, he joined me, willing to show me what we had that was new. I enjoyed Ryoma’s lab, then marveled at Kirumi’s, awed by the Victorian style and decor. “You know, during the Victorian era, it was normal for the body to not only die within the home, but it would also be embalmed and kept in the home and put on display in the parlor for several days.” I couldn’t help pointing that out as I looked around. “And mourning attire was a serious thing even though the dresses were so heavy and so uncomfortable.”

Korekiyo was smiling under his mask. “Yes. The family was not as sheltered from death as they are now. You’re originally from America, yes Eden?”

I nodded my head at his question. “Lived there most of my life but transferred to Hope’s Peak to further my education.”

“Then you are familiar with how taboo the subject of death can become,” he continued.

“Oh definitely. Even funerals get handled differently. Open caskets are typical in some states, closed caskets in others, some do viewings, some don’t… It really depends on where you are.” I paced around Kirumi’s lab, taking everything in. “There were also some superstitions about death in the Victorian era. Mirrors would be covered to prevent the dead from getting caught in the glass. They would stop the clocks at the time of death to record it but also to avoid bad luck. They would even carry the casket out feet first to avoid the dead looking back into the home, and sometimes take a roundabout way to the cemetery to avoid the spirit finding its way back to the house.” I looked back at Korekiyo. “Every culture is so different and it’s always changing over time.” 

We started to leave the lab as Korekiyo asked me, “Have you any predictions on how it may continue to change? In America at least?”

He began to guide me towards Gonta’s lab while I answered him. “With the way funeral costs are skyrocketing, there’s been a bit of a shift and more people are starting to push for more DIY funerals. Some are even holding viewings in their own homes. If things continue that way, I wouldn’t be surprised if that means death will become less taboo and we won’t be pushing so hard to protect our children from it. And I’m all for that. It’s just another part of life and one I think we all need to learn to face rather than hide from.”

“Kehehe. Indeed.”

“Whatchoo guys doing?” came a voice from behind and I didn’t even need to turn to look.

“Heading to Gonta’s lab,” I answered. “I wanted to see the bugs.”

“Hoping you’ll find some maggots to help take care of the next body?” Kokichi asked as he bounded up next to me. I felt my heart clench.

“I don’t want there to be a next body,” I answered, hugging myself. “I want us to get out of here. Alive.”

“Nee-heehee! You don’t really think that’ll happen, do you?” he asked. “It’s only a matter of time before Monokuma gives us our next motive. And when that happens, someone new’s gonna bite the dust! That’s the fun of a killing game!”

Without thinking, I whipped around and slapped Kokichi as hard as I could, getting him off guard and knocking him to the floor. I froze in horror, immediately regretting it. “Oh… Oh my god! Kokichi I-” But he gave me a venomous look and jumped to his feet, spinning around and bolting in the other direction. I held my face in my hands and sighed. “Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck fuck!” Feeling tears stinging my eyes, I took in a shaky breath. “I… I need to go.” And with that, I took off, running from the school and back outside.


	3. The Oven

I didn’t know how long it would take for word to begin to spread of what I’d done. I wasn’t sure if Korekiyo or Kokichi would say anything, but it was a small place. It wouldn’t take long for everyone to find out if they did. Rather than hiding away in my lab or in the dorms, I’d chosen the fountain, needing the sounds of running water and the peace to help calm me down. The muscular statue of Monokuma was… disturbing, to say the least, but I did my best to ignore it.

I was deep in thought, trying to decide how to apologize to Kokichi, very aware he likely wouldn’t listen to me, when I heard footsteps, and looked up to see Kaito and Shuichi heading towards me.

“Eden! There you are,” Kaito greeted as he sat down next to me. “What’re you doing by yourself? You look kinda sad.”

I offered a sad smile. “I fucked up earlier and I’m trying to figure out how to make it right.”

“What happened?” Shuichi asked, looking past Kaito to me.

“I… I hit Kokichi. He was making some joke that pissed me off and I hit him.” I sighed and hugged myself, ducking my head down.

“Ah… Yeah, he has a way of doing that. I don’t think anyone would blame you,” Kaito said rather dismissively. 

“Yeah, but that doesn’t make it right,” I replied. “Feel like such an asshole.”

“I think you might be the only friend he has around here,” Shuichi responded. “He just gets under everyone’s skin.”

“Like an annoying little brother,” Kaito agreed. “I’m sure if you give him space it’ll blow over.”

“I still want to apologize,” I pointed out.

“Then... just go apologize?” he said as if that had been the obvious solution. “Tell him you’re sorry and hope for the best. Can’t really do much else, right?” He glanced at Shuichi and huffed. “Can ask the Ultimate Detective for some tips on giving gifts if all else fails.”

I looked over at Shuichi who was blushing a little with embarrassment. “Oh?” I asked, smiling a little.

“Yeah, he’s been handing them out like candy every time he hangs out with one of us. He’s like Santa.” All three of us laughed a little at the statement and I felt my spirits go up a little. 

“So what’s going on with you and Kiyo?” he asked, changing the subject.

I gave him a confused look. “What’re you talking about?”

“You just seem to hang out with him a lot. He doesn’t creep you out?”

I chuckled and shrugged my shoulders. “He has his moments. But I mean, come on. I work with dead bodies because I want to. I really don’t have a lot of room to judge. Besides, he’s easy to talk to.”

“You like his anthropology stories?” Shuichi offered understandingly. “I’m sure he’s studied a lot about funeral customs around the world.”

“Yeah. He’s mostly just asked about my work though. I really should ask him more about his work. Especially his fieldwork. There’s gotta be some interesting stories there.”

Kaito huffed. “Shuichi was telling me he had a really weird one about being tied up and whipped. Or something.” 

I blinked. “Like… a BDSM story?”

Shuichi shuddered. “I’m not sure that’s what he was describing but I really didn’t want to pry.” I laughed and shook my head.

“I’ll have to ask. Now I wanna know.”

Kaito got up and stretched. “Well, a few of us were planning on hitting up the casino. Wanna come play some slots with us?”

“You really shouldn’t,” Shuichi sighed at him. “Remember last time?”

“Phsh! That was just a fluke! I know my luck’s gonna change.”

I got up as well with a laugh and agreed to go with them. As we started to walk, plumb hair and a white uniform caught the corner of my eye and I turned to look, seeing Kokichi pestering Kirumi for something. “I’ll catch up,” I told the other two and headed towards him. I wasn’t far before Kokichi noticed and gave me a cold look, turning on his heel to walk away. “Kokichi, wait!” I called, chasing after him. To my dismay, he broke into a run and I groaned before trying to match his speed. I was not athletic by any stretch of the imagination and there were few things I hated more than running. But I was determined to catch up to him, no matter how out of breath that landed me.

At least that had been the intent. We darted through the courtyard, dodging people left and right, and more than once he managed to take sudden sharp turns that nearly caused me to trip and fall flat on my face. For a few minutes, I somehow kept up. But embarrassingly, I was out of breath too soon and finally slowed to a stop and bent over, panting. “Sh- Shit…” After a few seconds of trying to catch my breath, I looked up and saw he had stopped, far away but likely to run again if I made another attempt. And I definitely couldn’t run again. “I’m… hah… I’m sorry!” I managed to call out between breaths. Then I waited, expecting him to bolt again, but instead he paced up to me and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Phsh… You think after that pathetic attempt, I’m just gonna accept your apology?” he asked mockingly. “How half-assed can you get?”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “I  _ am _ sorry. I shouldn’t have hit you. I’m sorry.”

“Hmm… Nope. Not good enough.” He waved dismissively and started to walk past me in the direction of the casino.

“You’re going gambling too?” I asked, straightening up and following.

“Jeez… now you’re gonna follow me?” he asked with annoyance.

“Kaito invited me. He invited you too?”

“Of course he did. I’m just too much fun to leave out, nee-heehee!” Then he stopped and faced me, tapping his chin with his finger. “Ya know… If you were really sorry, you’d find a way to make it up to me in there.” 

My eyebrows raised at the suggestion. “Okay. Done. What do you want?”

At once he burst into a laugh. “You’re really gonna just agree without finding out what it is first? Ohh man, you are gullible!” He laughed again, then shook his head. “Fine. If you really wanna buy my forgiveness… win me a Super Lucky Button at the casino.”

“That’s it?” I asked with surprise. “Sure. No problem.”

He cackled, clearly knowing something I didn’t, but it was too late. I’d already agreed to it. We headed into the casino together and down the steps, finding the others gathered at the slots. Along with Kaito and Shuichi, there was Miu, Ryoma, and even Korekiyo was there.

“Oh hey! You guys made up!” Kaito called with a grin.

Miu snorted. “That’s gotta be the shortest makeup sex I’ve ever heard of! What’s the matter? Too much emotion to keep up the stamina, Kokichi?”

“Aww… the frumpy cum-licker thinks she’s fooling us into thinking she’s actually had sex!” Kokichi teased with a grin. 

“Eeeeh! C- Cum-licker?!” she cried.

“Still making amends,” I answered Kaito, ignoring the both of them. “Gonna win the lucky button.”

“You what?!” Kaito cried. “But that thing costs 100,000 monocoins!”

My gut dropped. “For a button?!” I exclaimed, looking back to Kokichi who was laughing again.

“Don’t worry, Eden! I have fuuuull faith in you!” 

What had I gotten myself into? I should’ve known there’d be a pretty big catch. I sighed and looked around at my options of games. “Fine… I made a promise.” 

What followed was one of the longest nights of my life. Not wanting to waste time on the slots, just hoping for the best, I went ahead to the other games that took some skill and tried my hand at them. The driving game was… a disaster. I struggled to get control of the steering and crashed into too many cars to earn enough points. Next came the salmon game, but I only did well with it on the easiest mode, which would have taken far too long. Finally, I tried my luck at the treasure hunt game, and after figuring out the color pattern, that became my main focus. But even then, I still had several rounds that cost me coins and set me back. A few times, Shuichi wandered over to suggest I let it go and trust that Kokichi would come around. It was so tempting.

By the time I could hear the others deciding they were done for the night, Kokichi took a look at my progress and cackled with glee. “I can’t believe you’re actually going for it! You must really be desperate to please me. Well, good luck with that. I’m gonna go back to my nice waaaarm bed. So much more comfortable than these casino chairs.”

“Night,” I grunted back, starting up another round. When he was gone, I could feel another person drawing closer. 

“You really intend to buy his forgiveness?” Korekiyo asked from behind. “There are times when it’s wise to admit defeat.”

I sighed. “It’s not about buying his forgiveness. I’m sorry and I’m gonna prove that it matters to me that I make it up. Even if it’s a stupid button he’s probably going to call a piece of garbage and toss out after- DAMMIT!” I’d botched a section and failed to uncover one of the monokubs. 

“Kehehe… Such determination to be absolved is truly beautiful. I wonder if you intend to stay in here all night?”

“That’s the plan,” I answered, not looking away from the screen. “I’m up to 50,000. Halfway there.” 

“Then I do wish you the best of luck, Eden. But… do try not to exhaust yourself. You’re likely to burn out.” With that, he left me alone to curse at the machine and struggle my way through it.

* * *

It must have been around three in the morning by the time I trudged up the stairs of the dorms to my room. I had only just collapsed on the bed when the door opened and I looked to the side to see Kokichi poking his head in with a grin. “Giving up already?” he asked. With a huff, I reached into my pocket and tossed something that bounced off his forehead. “Ow! What the- No way!” He was bending to pick the button up from the floor with wide eyes, then gave me a look of disbelief. “You seriously did it? I can’t believe you actually put in all that effort on this stupid thing…” I nodded my head lazily and rolled over onto my side, not caring that dozing off with my back to Kokichi was probably a horrible idea. “Aww you can’t just fall asleep on me. Not if you’re so determined to make amends.” 

With a groan I sat up, feeling like I was going to start crying if I wasn’t allowed to sleep soon. How much longer was he going to stretch this out? But instead of another joke, Kokichi’s smile faded and for the briefest moment, I could have sworn I saw regret in those eyes. “Wow… you really were serious about this.”

“Told you I was,” I answered with a yawn. “I feel terrible about what I did.”

Kokichi watched me thoughtfully for a while, then stuffed the button in his pocket. “Fiiiine. If it really means that much to you, I’ll forgive you I guess. If it’ll get you off my back.” I rolled my eyes but was too tired to get mad at him. 

It only took a few minutes and I was out cold, still able to hear the sounds of slot machines and ringing alarms in the dark. 

* * *

“You look exhausted.” Korekiyo’s voice was almost soothing as he joined me. I was on my second cup of coffee and aware that something was a little… off. 

“Did something happen before I got here? Everyone looks grouchy.”

“You didn’t notice it in your dorm this morning?” he asked.

“Notice what?”

Korekiyo looked a little surprised. “We were all left a kubs pad with a motive video loaded on it.”

“What the hell is a kubs pad?” I asked, draining my coffee. Kirumi was already there with a refill.

“It appears to be some sort of tablet computer though with the sole purpose of playing the motive video. The odd thing is they seem to have been mixed up. None of us received our own motive video.”

“Huh… Weird. So the motives have everyone down?”

“There was an agreement to not share our videos with each other or even watch them, and while the decision was  _ mostly _ unanimous, it appears that not everyone is entirely happy about this.”

“I’ll have to go back and look. I don’t remember seeing anything in my room, but I was barely awake when the morning announcement went off.” I began picking at my bacon when Kokichi chose that moment to join us.

“It’s not there,” he said with a mischievous grin. “I took a sneak peek at yours when you came in last night. But that’s what you get for turning your back to me.”

I knew I should be annoyed, but I didn’t care what was on my video. Maybe I was just too tired to care? “So does that mean you have my video?” I asked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he teased. I waved it off and continued to eat.

“You have no interest in yours?” Korekiyo inquired.

“If we agreed we won’t watch them, why should I? Besides, no one’s going to be able to convince me to commit murder so it really doesn’t matter.” I pushed my bacon over to Kokichi, knowing he was probably going to steal some anyways, and I really wasn’t hungry.

“Seeing that you two are now getting along once more, I trust you were successful in your mission last night?”

“It took until 3am, but I finally did it,” I answered. “Why couldn’t you just ask for the love key? I would have had that so much faster.”

“Nee-heehee! Are you trying to seduce me?” Kokichi giggled.

“If anything, it would be hatefucking by now.” 

“Hell yeah!” I heard Miu cheer from the other end of the table. “I knew you had a kinky side!”

Burning red, I got to my feet. “I’m gonna go look for something to read. Too many people.” With that, I left them and headed down to the library. 

After finding a few books that looked interesting, I headed into my lab, knowing most of the others had no real desire to be there, and it gave me a few hours of peace. Knowing everything was sterile, I hopped onto the table and wadded up one of the protective suits for a pillow to tuck behind my head.

I don’t know how long it had been before the door opened, but when I looked up to see Kokichi step inside, the supreme leader scrunched his nose at me. “Ewww. Dead people have been on that.”

I chuckled and sat up. “So have a lot of cleaning products. What’re you up to?”

“I’m booored. So I’ve been forming a plan to get everyone to watch their motive videos,” he answered. 

“But no one wanted to.”

“Wrong! I want to! And besides, I think it’s dumb if we avoid them. If we get it all out in the open, we’ll know who has the biggest reason to kill.” I waited for him to add how fun he thought that would be, but when he didn’t I shook my head.

“Yeah, but then that person becomes a giant target themselves. I’m normally not for being willfully ignorant, but I think it’s justified this time. It’s better we don’t know.”

He frowned, looking thoroughly annoyed by my answer. “Ugh! I thought you’d be with me on this one! Why are you so lame?”

I laughed softly and shook my head, laying back down to continue reading. “You’ve got your lucky button now, right? Maybe that’ll help you out.” Or spare the rest of us. Who knows.

“Thanks for nothing,” he grumbled, leaving again.

I was about to pick up where I’d left off, when my stomach began to grumble. I had barely eaten anything for breakfast, and it was well past lunch. I really needed to eat something or I was going to feel sick soon. I sat up and set my book down, stretching and picking up the protection suit to put away when I heard the door open again. I sighed without looking. “Forget it, Kokichi. I’m not helping you-”

But I was cut off by the feeling of something cracking against the back of my head, and everything went black.

* * *

My head was pounding and when my eyes opened, everything was dark. I was lying on my side and the only light was coming in near my feet. The space was confined, like I was trapped in a metal box of some sort, and when I sat up I realized in horror where I was.

Inside the cremation oven.

With a scream, I lunged forward, pressing on the door but it wouldn’t give. It was locked and there was no emergency release inside. I couldn’t see anyone outside, but there came an even worse realization. A faint beeping from the control panel was warning that the timer had been set. The oven was going to kick on at any moment.

“NO!” I shrieked, pounding at the door. “HELP! SOMEBODY HELP! GET ME OUT!”

No one was coming. I doubted anyone could hear me at all. I was going to die. I was going to die and no one was coming.

I started sobbing, pounding frantically against the door. “PLEASE! PLEASE HELP! PLEASE!”

There came a clicking sound and the vents above turned on. My screaming became more panicked and then I saw the fire beneath ignite. I was going to die. I was going to die. I was going to die.

Then there came pounding on the other side and I looked up, just as the heat was beginning to grow unbearable. Someone was tugging on the door but it wouldn’t budge. I started shouting, “BIG RED BUTTON! BIG RED BUTTON!” The shadow on the other side darted to the control panel and a split second later the flames vanished and the door in front of me unlocked.

I shoved my way out as fast as I could, dropping to the floor below like a sack of rocks, and let out a scream, shaking and sobbing with panic. My savior stood above me, just as panicked. “Gonta get help! Gonta be right back!”

I heard Gonta’s footsteps thunder across the floor as he darted out of my lab, and some minutes later, he was back with Kirumi and Kokichi in tow. “What happened?” Kirumi gasped as she knelt down beside me, taking hold of my wrists. That was when I realized the palms of my hands were burned. Thinking of everything that had been closest to the fire, I looked down and saw burns that went through my pants and over my legs, as well as the rubber soles of my shoes now melted. 

I couldn’t answer. I could only sob in horror while my body was shaking and gasping for air. “Can you take care of her?” Kokichi asked, his eyes wide as he stared at my burns. For once, even he was too shocked to make any jokes.

“I know how to treat burns like this,” the maid assured him. “Leave her to me. Gonta? Could you help carry her to my lab?”

“Of course,” he answered.

“Lift her gently. She’s burned.”

Looking up at Gonta, I shakily reached out as he lifted me with care, holding me bridal-style and walking me slowly to Kirumi’s lab on the upper floor. As Gonta followed Kirumi’s instructions and placed me down on one of the sofas, the door suddenly burst open as several of the others came running inside, Kokichi leading them. 

“What the hell is going on?!” Kaito shouted. “Who did it? I swear I’ll kick their ass!”

“D- Didn’t see who…” I stammered, still shaking. “Something h- hit me and… w- woke up in the o- oven…” Another sob escaped me, and Kirumi took hold of my hands to look at them. 

“You didn’t see anyone?” Tenko asked nervously. 

“N- No. Happened too fast… Oh my god…” I was unable to control my tears as panic set in yet again, wracking my body and making it harder to breathe.

“We should give her some space,” Shuichi spoke up. “She’s too shaken up. Let’s let Kirumi take care of her.”

There were murmurs of agreement and after a few wishes to feel better, they left until it was only Kirumi and I. As she began to fetch what she needed to clean my injuries, she asked, “Are you certain you saw no one? Or do you have any suspicions as to who your assailant may have been?”

I shook my head no. “I d- didn’t see a- anyone.”

* * *

Kirumi amazed me with how well she was able to take care of my injuries and by the time she was done my shaking had nearly stopped. After she finished, she walked me back to my dorm, making me grateful I didn’t have to go there alone in the dark. 

And just like the last few nights, as soon as I shut the door, it opened again behind me. Only this time, I jumped with a gasp and almost immediately cowered.

Kokichi stood frozen, holding up his hands. “Whoa! It’s okay! Just me.” 

Feeling like my mind was on the verge of breaking, I dropped so I was sitting on the floor and leaned back against the wall, crying again. Kokichi frowned and headed over to sit next to me, offering his arm with an, “Aw jeez… Why’d you gotta start crying again?” But I could tell he didn’t mean those words by the way he pulled me close to let me sob on his shoulder.

“I’m s- s- so scared! I’m so scared! Someone tr- tried to kill me! I don’t wanna die!”

The door opened again, but this time I didn’t jump. Just looked up through a film of tears at Korekiyo who was watching me with sad eyes. He slipped inside and shut the door behind him before joining us on the floor. He looked over the bandages on my hands and Kokichi gave me a gentle nudge. “Hey look, Eden. You and Kiyo match.” 

Korekiyo looked down at his own bandaged hands and snickered. “While that may be, mine serve a much different purpose which I prefer not to discuss at this moment.” He got up and fetched the tissue box from my dresser, bringing it over to me to help dry my eyes. “Was Kirumi able to properly care for your burns?”

I nodded my head. “M- Made it hurt less… Cleaned them too. She s- said the ointment she gave me should h- help them heal faster.”

“What about your head?” Kokichi asked. “You had an ugly knot on the back of it.”

“It’s fine,” I answered. “Concussion but… not much w- worse.” I sniffled and wiped my nose on the tissue before balling it up and tossing it in the nearby bin. 

“That means you gotta stay up for the next six hours, right?” 

“That belief is outdated, Kokichi,” Korekiyo answered. “Before we had the technology of CT scans and the like, the only way to be sure there was no brain bleed was to keep the patient awake and monitor their alertness. They believed it would also avoid a coma but we now know better.”

“I didn’t ask for a lecture,” Kokichi grumped. 

“He’s got it right though,” I murmured. “And my head’s okay. Kinda hurts but whatever Kirumi gave me put a dent in it.” 

“Kehehe… She is rather marvelous in how far her talents extend.”

“Someone’s got a crush,” Kokichi teased, causing a sudden sharp look from the anthropologist. 

“My heart belongs to another and I would appreciate it if you refrained from speculating such things. They are none of your business.” Kokichi and I jumped, not expecting his sudden hostility to the suggestion. With a slow breath, Korekiyo closed his eyes and shook his head. “Forgive me. I did not mean to reply so harshly.”

“Whoever she is, she’s lucky,” I muttered with a smile. Whatever Kirumi had given me, it was  _ really _ working now. Korekiyo looked at me in surprise but the painkillers had lowered my inhibitions. “What? You’re a good looking guy.”

“What we can see of you anyways,” Kokichi chimed in with a playful grin.

Poor Korekiyo looked as though he didn’t know how to respond to that and a hint of a blush crept out from beneath his mask. “Y- Your compliments are… appreciated. But I have promised my heart to another and she alone holds it.”

“Watch it. You’re gonna make Eden jealous.”

I turned red and hid my face, able to laugh at that at least. “Can we change the subject?”

Kokichi let slip another giggle while his eyes began to wander to the bandages on my legs. Kirumi had cut my jeans just above the knee before treating them and now I looked like I was wearing a pair of DIY shorts. “How bad are they burned?”

“Not as bad at my hands,” I answered. “Really hurts though. Kirumi said it should start to feel better in the morning.” I looked at my dresser with a sigh. “Getting dressed is gonna suck.”

“Should’ve asked Kirumi to stick around and help,” he said. Then a grin spread to his face and I felt dread creep over me, not liking that look of the gears starting to turn in his head. He lept to his feet and let out the longest fake yawn I’d ever heard. “Well look at the time! I think I’m gonna call it a night.”

Realizing what he was trying to do, I tried to grab him but he was too fast. “You fucking liar!” I cried, though I was laughing.

“Nee-heehee!” He was off, leaving me alone with Korekiyo. 

The anthropologist shifted uncomfortably and I bit my lip. “Don’t worry,” I finally said. “If I can’t do it, I can just sleep in my clothes.” Though the fabric still smelled burnt and it was beginning to get to me. I knew as soon as things became quiet, that smell was going to throw my mind back inside the oven…

I was inside the oven… Someone shoved me there… After knocking me out… Someone tried to kill me and I didn’t know who… Someone who I saw every day… Someone who could try to do it again… And if Gonta hadn’t heard me scream which button to push…

A hand on my shoulder jerked me out of my thoughts and I let out a gasp as I looked to Korekiyo, my body beginning to tremble again. “I’m… I’m sorry… I k- keep thinking about it…”

What little I could see of his features softened and he reached out, tucking my hair behind my ear. “I know that thousand mile stare anywhere. I’ve seen it before many times in my fieldwork.” Those words did nothing to settle my nerves and made me afraid to ask what on earth he was talking about. “There are times I find myself observing the uglier portions of humanity. But there is still beauty there.”

I still didn’t understand what he was saying but I could only assume he was trying to make me feel better. After a moment, he stood and offered his hand. “Taking into account it may create quite the scandal… I am fully capable of lending my assistance. I assure you I am not the sort to take advantage.”

I blushed at the offer. “You really don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“And… is it so hard to believe I would like to help a friend? Even with a task one might consider embarrassing?”

I hesitated, then took his hand and got to my feet, hissing in pain at the movement. But he didn’t tug me or try to rush it. Instead he helped ease me up and I was grateful for that. “Really… if you can just…” I tried to consider the logistics of this, wanting to make it as less awkward as possible. “If you can let me hold on for support… think that’s all I need.” I went to the dresser and pulled out my pajama pants and a t-shirt to sleep in. Then I turned my back to him as I got out of my shirt and bra. Or tried to. My shirt wasn’t hard, but when it came to the clasp on my bra, every way I bent and twisted my hands and fingers hurt. I tried to keep any pained noises from slipping out, but it hurt so bad I couldn’t help it. 

Fingers rested on top of my hands and a warm voice murmured, “Here…” My heart was pounding too hard, but I stood perfectly still as I felt the bandages on his fingers rub my skin until the clasp released. Then I could hear him step back and it gave me a bit of relief while I slid off my bra. Pulling the t-shirt on was less of an ordeal.

When I got to the pants, I undid them and started to push them down, wanting to do it as quick as possible, but the pain flared up as I bent and my hands fumbled a few times. “Ah… Ow…”

Korekiyo’s hand gripped my shoulder, and I felt him turn me to face him again. “Here… Hold on to the dresser,” he instructed. This was embarrassing and so very awkward. I braced myself with the dresser and looked away as he slid my pants off for me. When he had the bottoms, I had to look so I could see what I was doing as I stepped into them and then he was sliding them up, situating the waistband in place with care. 

It felt like getting dressed by a parent. A little more awkward but somehow just as safe. No wandering eyes or lewd comments. Just… actual help.

“Th- Thanks…” I stammered, struggling to look at him.

He sighed. “I assure you, there is nothing to be embarrassed about. I am always willing to help out a friend who needs it. And frankly, there are times when modesty is not a pressing issue.”

I nodded my head and looked around the room, realizing there was nothing left but to go to bed. Was I really going to be able to sleep after all of this? Reading my face, Korekiyo’s head tilted to the side inquiringly. “Have you another concern?”

I took a deep breath, trying to decide if I should really ask for what I wanted. Korekiyo had been kind and helpful, but I was afraid of asking too much from him. 

“And there’s that stare again…”

His voice pulled me back out of my head and I cleared my throat. “Can you… stay with me? Just until I fall asleep? Please?”

He considered me for a moment, then nodded his head. “You’ve had quite the scare. I dare say nightmares should be expected, with or without my presence. However…” He looked down, picking at his bandages a little as if he were nervous while he continued to speak. “...you gave me quite the scare as well. To think what would have happened if Gonta had been too late…” He shuddered as if trying to shake that image from his mind. “Very well. I will stay with you but only until you are asleep. I’m not the sort to share a bed with the opposite sex.”

“Your lover would probably kill me if you did,” I said with a huff.

I was met with dark eyes. “You know nothing of my lover.”

My pulse started racing as I feared I’d made a horrible mistake. His expressions could change in a blink and when he was irritated or angry, his eyes became frightening. And from a simple joke about his lover? Clearly he was very protective of her but almost to a scary degree.

“I… It was a joke,” I stammered nervously. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Blinking as if he’d just come out of something, he shook his head and sighed. “My apologies. I… have been antsy as of late. I know she is lonely and I long for her warmth again.”

Jealousy did twist my heart just a little but I forced myself to ignore it. “I’m sorry,” I offered. “I can’t imagine what that’s like.”

I looked me in the eyes as if trying to read me again, then a smile curled under his mask, moving it just enough for me to see it. “You should lie down. I will stay by your bedside until you are asleep.”

I smiled a little, then slipped under the covers, moving gingerly as my legs protested with pain more than once. When I was settled with the pillow, I saw him getting up and walking to the light switch. “N- No!” I called, startling him. “Sorry… I just… Don’t turn off the light. Please. I… I can’t be in a dark room right now.”

He turned around and walked over to a chair near the bed. “Understood,” he replied. “If that will help you feel safe enough to rest.”

“Thank you.” I closed my eyes and willed my mind and body to settle. Frightening images still played themselves in my head, but every once in a while I would hear a yawn or the sound of shifting in the chair near the bed, and it reminded me I was safe.

I don’t know how long it took, but somehow, I finally drifted off to sleep.


	4. Lesson Two

When morning came, my head was killing me again, but a bottle of painkillers had been left on my nightstand, along with a note from Kirumi with dosage instructions. Sitting up and getting out of bed, I found she was right about the ointment helping me feel better by morning. I was still rather tender and had to move gingerly, but at least I didn’t need to ask someone to help me get dressed. By the time I was ready for the day, the medicine was starting to kick in and I was feeling warm and fuzzy as I left my room. I saw Korekiy, heading outside, but he looked up to see me coming down the stairs and he waited for me to catch up.

Stepping into the dining hall, I noticed that Kokichi was, oddly, nowhere in sight and I wondered where he was just as Angie announced that the magic show in the gym would be starting soon.

“Magic show?” I asked. 

“Yes,” Korekiyo replied. “Himiko has prepared a magic show for us, along with Angie. I suggest you come see it with me. It might help ease your mood after the night you’ve had.”

It would be the first time I’d actually seen Himiko’s talent put to use. I nodded my head in agreement. “Sounds like a plan. But have you seen Kokichi anywhere?”

“I have not. However, he showed little interest in the show to begin with. I doubt we will see him there.” 

We stood up together and headed to the gym, my spirits already feeling lighter. Yes, it was probably the painkillers, but something like this would definitely help. I needed a break from the morbidity of our situation.

If only I’d known…

* * *

It was far more gruesome than any magic trick I could have imagined. In one moment, Ryoma’s body was there. The next… he stripped to nothing but bones. I felt my legs give out from underneath me as I watched in horror, and there came screams around me from a few of the others.

Everything that followed happened so fast it was a blur. The body announcement rang out. Then the others were there, panicking with the rest of us. Keebo was thrown into the tank to break down the glass, sending us into a new panic, dodging water and piranhas. And finally, the monokubs and Monokuma arrived with Ryoma’s file. All of it felt like it had happened in an instant and I was barely able to process that we were in the middle of an investigation. But here we were, as much as I really didn’t want to be there, doing this all over again.

I snapped out of my shock and pushed myself through the investigation, inspecting Ryoma’s remains while unable to help thinking about what I could do for him to set him to rest. One thing caught my attention and I signalled Shuichi over to point it out. “There’s a crack on the back of his skull,” I said, turning the skull over in my hands to show it to him. “It’s small. I don’t think it would’ve been fatal.” Shuichi looked for himself, then thanked me as he made a note of it.

Soon, Korekiyo and Kokichi were both beside me while I was standing up from the scene. “So… whatcha gonna do with him?” Kokichi asked.

“I’ll wait until the investigation’s over before I collect him,” I answered. “I… still don’t know what to do yet.” I sighed and shook my head. “Why is this happening again? What the hell is wrong with people?”

“Perhaps the answer lies in the motive Monokuma left us,” Korekiyo answered.

“Maybe… Shit. I never even got to know him.” And he had just been in the casino with me the day before. I never even spent five seconds talking with him. And now he was gone. And in one of the most gruesome ways possible. “I’m gonna get a body bag from my lab. The least I can do is give his remains some dignity.” 

I left then and waited until Shuichi assured me that he’d seen all he could of the crime scene before collecting the bones and bringing them back to my lab. I didn’t have any time though before the announcement of the trial sounded, and after murmuring a promise to find his killer, I headed out to meet the others. 

The trial felt very much like the last one, though since I’d had even less to do with the circumstances that came right before the murder, I felt even more lost. But then Shuichi brought up one disturbing detail I couldn’t believe I’d missed. Whoever had killed Ryoma had likely delivered the blow to his head. Just like the one I had been dealt before waking up in the oven. Whoever the culprit was, it was likely I had been the original target.

If they had succeeded… Ryoma would still be alive. I didn’t know how to feel about that.

I watched as the rest unfolded and finally, we knew who the culprit was. And why. And as Kirumi argued for her life, the realization that the person who had treated my injuries was the same one that caused them, made me sick. “Why?!” I burst, just before we were about to vote. “Why did you target me first?! Why did you try to kill me?! I never did  _ anything  _ to you!”

Kirumi lowered her eyes, looking ashamed to have been called out. “I apologize, Eden. When you showed no interest in your motive video, I thought that perhaps you felt the same as Ryoma. That there was nothing for you on the outside and that you had nothing left to look forward to in your life. Not even loved ones.”

“What?!” I screamed at her, my body shaking with rage. “How dare you! You h- have no right to decide who deserves to live and who dies! No right!” Angrily, I slammed the button on my voting screen. “J- Just another scummy lying politician! Fuck you! I hope you suffer!” Her face contorted with anger but she said nothing as we voted.

I knew I was the only one as angry about this as I was, but thankfully, no one felt the need to scold me or tell me to calm down. Even as they were grieving over what was about to happen to her. They knew what had almost happened and that seemed to be enough for them to cut me a break. But Kirumi was not going down without a fight. We all watched as she darted from the room, trying to escape her death but only to be met with an agonizingly long one. By the time it was finally over and she lay splayed out and bloody on the marble floor, I was already regretting every word out of my mouth.

I hated what she had tried to do to me. I hated what she did to Ryoma. I hated her reasoning behind it. But what happened to her was horrible. Those screams would never leave my mind. I never should have said what I did. And I couldn’t take it back. Not that it would have stopped Monokuma.

When I returned to my lab with her body and placed her in the locker, I turned to the closed bag that held Ryoma’s remains and rested my hand on top of it, tears falling down my cheeks. “I’m… I’m s- so sorry… Y- You would still be h- here if she’d s- succeeded in killing me…” Because Shuichi would have figured it out. Whether it had been me or Ryoma, she would have been caught. But I was alive while Ryoma had died, all while believing no one cared about him. And I was just as guilty of not taking the time to get to know him as several of the others.

I felt eyes behind me and turned, already knowing which two figures to expect. Kokichi was devoid of his usual smile and instead was just as somber as the last time there were bodies to be dealt with. “Can… I help again?” he asked.

Korekiyo fidgeted with a chain on his uniform. “I too would like to be of assistance. One does not often get the chance to watch an ultimate mortician hard at work.”

I wiped my eyes and nodded my head. “In the morning,” I answered. “I need to try to sleep.”

* * *

Working on Kirumi’s body was similar to the last two, however this time there were serious injuries to care for. I showed Kokichi the types of reconstructive cosmetics I would use and began to work, Korekiyo watching more than helping. He marveled at how I was able to make her look like she was simply resting and not salvaged from the aftermath of a terrible fate.

Because of the extent of the damage, it took longer, but I was able to finish shortly after the two new graves were dug, and just like last time, Miu and Keebo showed up with caskets. “I still don’t get why we bothered with Ryoma,” she grumbled as I arranged the bones inside. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just charr up what’s left in the oven and grind it into ashes?”

I glanced at the oven and shuddered. “N- No. I wanted to show more respect for him. It’s the least I could do.” I caught Kokichi looking at me like he knew I was lying, but I ignored him. Once both bodies were ready, I stepped back to remove my gear. “I’m going to sit this one out. I just… I can’t right now. I’ve done all I can.”

Keebo gave me a sympathetic look and nodded his head. “Understood. Thank you for all your hard work.” He left then with Miu to fetch the others to help remove the caskets. 

When they were gone, Kokichi stayed behind to help me clean up while Korekiy decided to attend the funeral. We worked in silence until the job was done, and afterwards, just like last time, I wound up sitting on the counter, only with Kokichi sitting next to me this time.

“You know… what you said to Ryoma last night? About how he’d still be here if you’d died?” he asked. I bit my lip, feeling tears forming as I thought about it. “That’s a dumb thing to say.” My head snapped in his direction but he was looking back completely unapologetic. “You don’t know that. There’s no guarantee Shuichi would have figured out your killer. And if that got botched, it would mean we’d all die. And really, the only reason we did figure this one out was because of how much attention to detail she put into Ryoma’s murder. If it had been you, it was way too sloppy. It wouldn’t have been obvious.”

I listened to him, stunned that he was making as much sense as he did.

“So who knows. Maybe you surviving just saved all our asses.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“Y- Yeah. Maybe.” I sighed and hugged myself. “Doesn’t make it easier right now.”

“Survivor’s guilt is sooo boring. Such a waste of emotion. There’s better things to do.”

“You say that like it’s a choice,” I muttered, raising an eyebrow at him. 

“Well… there is one good part to this.” He was swinging his legs over the edge, watching his feet as he did so. “There’s gonna be new areas to explore if last time was any indicator. I wonder what we’ll find this time.”

He did have a point. And as horrible as our situation was, I was curious to see what else was inside this building. “Probably more labs. I wonder whose though.”

“I’d better get mine soon,” he grumbled. “I need to sharpen my skills! My secret organization’s counting on me!”

I giggled and reached out to pat his shoulder. “I’m sure it’ll happen soon.”

* * *

Kokichi’s hunch was right. Shortly after the funeral outside, the monokubs made their appearance with more items to unlock new areas. This time I followed along and stayed with the group that inspected the inside of the school. When we unlocked the fourth floor, my eyes widened at the sharp change in scenery. Everything was darker and grungier. Almost like something you’d find in one of those creepy urban exploration videos on the internet.

“So… this is a made up story...” Monophanie said as she appeared out of nowhere. “Supposedly a murder took place here.”

“Don’t say things like that!” Tsumugi cried. “I won’t be able to go to the bathroom alone if you scare me like that!”

Gonta, however, seemed unaffected. “They said it’s made up story, right? That means there’s nothing to worry about?”

Monophanie was gone then but behind me, a snicker made me nearly jump out of my skin.

“Kehehe… There is no choice but to see for ourselves. Who knows? Perhaps we might commune with the dead and learn their stories? Such an interaction would indeed be beautiful…”

Something in Korekiyo’s tone was… off. I turned to look at him and was a little disturbed to find he was absolutely gleeful. “Are you okay?” I had to ask.

He looked at me with golden eyes lit up with delight. “I would think you, of all people, would not shy away from the topic of death. Or do you think the dead do not have voices of their own? Perhaps I should invite you to partake in a seance and see if it eases your skepticism?”

Something was very off. We had already had a conversation similar to this yet it seemed like he didn’t remember. Korekiyo had always been odd and a little creepy. But there was something that was making it worse now. Maybe it was just the creepy theme of the floor?

We continued to wander, uncovering three identical empty rooms that seemed to serve no purpose. Then Angie’s lab, which looked like a fun place to kill time. Then we reached another lab, and when I stepped inside, my eyes went wide. “Ohh! Look at this place!”

Korekiyo was right behind me, his eyes lighting up even more as he walked around. “Beautiful! This must be my lab! And I have never seen one so well stocked!”

There were artifacts on display and walls of books. More than were even in the library. While Shuichi and Kokichi took immediate interest in the artifacts, I was gravitating to the book shelves, looking at what all he had. All of them were centered around anthropology, which was not surprising, but I spotted titles that related to my talent, making my heart soar with excitement. I would need to ask if I could borrow some of them.

“...that is an extremely precious relic. Do not handle it so lightly! I’ll tear out your nerves!” 

I jumped and looked behind me to see that Kokichi had the katana in his hands. Korekiyo was glaring at him, looking like he was inches away from making good on that threat and… it scared the hell out of me. I’d never seen him like that before. He was genuinely angry.

Kokichi cowered back after handing the katana over to Korekiyo, and after a second threat to tear out his nerves if he did that again, Kokichi shrank back even further. I returned to them, giving Korekiyo a look while standing next to Kokichi. As Korekiyo wandered off to show Shuichi another artifact and explain its value, I looked to the supreme leader and muttered, “Something’s wrong with him. He’s been acting… creepier than usual.”

“No shit,” Kokichi muttered. “Ugh, I gotta wash my hands. I’ve got gold flakes all over them.” Deciding I wanted to leave too, I walked out with him and headed to the bathroom, waiting outside while he washed his hands. When he returned, he sighed. “I don’t like how many potential murder weapons we’re finding today. Monokuma’s really trying to get us killed.”

For once, he seemed genuinely upset. Maybe Korekiyo had shaken him up enough to make him drop the facade for a moment. “Yeah,” I answered. “I’m not worried about Maki, but I hope she keeps that lab locked. I don’t really trust anyone right now.”

“Awww, not even me? But I made you cookies,” the boy whined.

“Least of all you,” I teased.

“Nee-heehee! You know me so well!” And like that he was back to normal. We headed out to the dining hall, the talk of cookies making us hungry, and together we made a mess in the kitchen in an attempt to fix up some dinner. “Man… If only we still had Kirumi. She was such a good cook.”

I internally cringed. While I still regretted my last words to her, especially after watching how much she suffered during her execution, I still couldn’t forgive her.

“Make me something American,” he finally said, changing the topic. “I figure an American will know how to make American food the right way.”

“Greasy and loaded with cheese. Got it,” I answered with a laugh. Eventually, we whipped up some cheese burgers, making me wish we had a grill to make them the right way, and after adding bacon and whatever condiments and toppings we wanted, we sat at the table to dig in.

A few bites in and I got Kokichi’s seal of approval, when Korekiyo showed up with a few of the others, each of them looking for something to make for dinner. Korekiyo, however, joined Kokichi and I, and I watched as Kokichi seemed to clam up as the anthropologist sat down.

“I’ve… come to offer my apologies,” he said to Kokichi. “I reacted more harshly than I intended to. I have no desire to cause you any harm. But I strongly dislike when anyone handles a precious relic with complete disrespect.”

The apology sounded real and Kokichi nodded his head, still not looking at him. “Don’t worry. Don’t have any plans on going in there again.”

Korekiyo sighed. “There are many interesting things in my lab. Should you change your mind, I would be happy to show them to you.” 

Kokichi said nothing and I looked to Korekiyo. “Are you okay? You’ve been acting a little weird since the funeral.”

Korekiyo looked confused. “Weird? How so?”

“You were acting like a complete psychopath in your lab!” Kokichi spoke up, glaring at him. “And what the hell was that about talking to the dead on the fourth floor? You looked happy that we might be walking around a murder scene! Too happy.”

If Kokichi was the one complaining about acting tasteless around a possible murder site… Maybe this was the first sign of the apocalypse?

“Kehehe… Because I view death differently, I am a psychopath? How narrow-minded.”

“Guys,” I spoke up, wanting to stop whatever argument was coming. I looked to Korekiyo. “Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it. If everything’s okay, I believe you.” He seemed satisfied with my answer and I continued to eat. “By the way, I saw some books in your lab I’d love to read. Would it be okay if I borrowed them?”

Korekiyo nodded his head. “Certainly. I suspect there are many books in my lab on the topic of thanatology. It does, after all, contain many aspects that, as an anthropologist, intrigue me greatly.”

“Thana-what?” Kokichi asked.

“The study of deathlore,” I answered. “Definitely up my alley.”

“That doesn’t sound boring.” At once he was perking up again. “Okay. Maybe I will check out that lab again.”

We finished eating just as Angie walking in with a rather large group following her. Which reminded me… “Have you guys noticed how many of them are suddenly devout believers in Atua?”

“It’s so annoying. They’ve tried to convert me twice now.”

“It is not so surprising,” Korekiyo commented as he watched them gather to pray before heading to the kitchen to fix themselves some lunch. “Our surroundings have all the necessary ingredients for a cult to form.”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” I replied. “That’s what worries me.”

“There are cults who have been perfectly harmless, however. We may not need to worry.”

“Brainwashing in any form is a problem. And I don’t like how much power they’re giving her.”

“That’s a good point,” Korekiyo agreed. “We should be wary.”

I saw them beginning to migrate towards us and I stood up, having finished my food. “I’m getting out of here before they try to rope me in. I grew up in the Bible Belt. I don’t wanna hear it.” 

Korekiyo snickered and stood up, along with Kokichi. After getting our plates put away, we headed up to Korekiyo’s lab where Kokichi and I began to look through the books while Korekiyo went to work, intently studying one of his artifacts. 

“Tell me another corpse story!” Kokichi spoke up, looking giddy. I had to laugh a little and I spotted the perfect book, pulling it out and sitting on the floor with him. After flipping through a few pages, I came across an old, famous painting, and showed it to him.

“Whoa… What am I looking at?” Kokichi asked.

“This is called the Cadaver Synod, and it was a real trial involving a pope’s corpse,” I answered, unable to help chuckling a little. “The backstory’s a little convoluted, but the cadaver is Pope Formosus, and I’ll try to sum it up as best I can. When he was in power, he pissed off a powerful family by not honoring their request to make one of their sons emperor. But it ended up not mattering because Formosus died, and the man he appointed died too, so that son still got to become emperor. But the family was still pissed off about it. When they were able to get Pope Stephen VI… or VII, depending on who you ask, in power, Pope Stephen decided to put Formosus on trial as a last way to humiliate him post-mortem. And it was as insane as it sounds.

A deacon was appointed to speak on Formosus’ behalf, but of course Formosus was found guilty, stripped of his papal garb, had three of his fingers chopped off because they had been used for blessings when he was still pope, and then his corpse was dressed in rags and buried in a commoner’s grave. But Pope Stephen decided that wasn’t enough, exhumed the corpse  _ again _ and threw him in the Tibre. However someone fished out the corpse and buried it again.”

Kokichi was cackling with laughter and I was cracking up too. “Wh- What the hell?” he laughed.

“It was the Middle Ages. Things were batshit,” I answered, still laughing. “Eventually, a few popes later, the verdict was thrown out and Formosus regained his title and was buried back in his original grave. And a law was passed forbidding any future trials of a corpse.”

“Kehehe… The Middle Ages truly were beautiful,” came Korekiyo’s voice as he joined us. “And speaking of beauty, what are your thoughts on corpses used in art?”

“I love it but I don’t love it too,” I answered, standing up to put the book away. “There’s been plenty of cases of people donating their bodies to art, and I’m okay with that. But back in the day, consent wasn’t considered and that’s when it becomes a gray area where you have to take into account the culture and the era. Like, there’s the bone church which is an extraordinary work of art and considering the circumstances surrounding its creation, I don’t really have any ethical qualms with it. But then you get scenarios like The Punished Suicide and I get frustrated.”

“The what?” Kokichi asked.

Doubting there was a book with an actual photo of it, I tried to explain it the best I could. “In 1863, there was a girl who died by suicide, and the person in charge of her body decided to use it to express how sinful he thought her actions were. There are religions out there that teach that suicide will send you straight to hell. So her hair and skin were peeled off and treated before placing it on a plaster cast of herself. Then red wax was used to look like blood and snakes were made to look like they were crawling out of her face and biting her, all to represent her eternal suffering in Hell. Obviously, she never consented to this, but her family actually approved of his work and his message. It’s still on display in a museum somewhere.”

Kokichi’s eyes were wide. “What… the hell.”

“Exactly,” I answered with a nod. “What the actual hell.” 

“I have seen the work,” Korekiyo spoke up. “It is gruesome, yes, but beautiful in its own way. Though I can understand your ethical hangups about it.”

“I can admire the art even if I disagree with the message… but yeah. I don’t like how it was made and that’s what makes it frustrating to me.” I sighed and got up to stretch, my back getting stiff. “I think I’m gonna go take a nap. I really didn’t sleep well last night.” And my pain was starting to come back. It was time for another dose. And to change my bandages.

I waved a goodbye to them and headed out to the dorms, only to realize I had a follower. “I’m not telling more stories right now,” I said, glancing over my shoulder at Kokichi.

“Did I say I was gonna ask for more? That last one’s gonna give me nightmares!” That was definitely a lie. “I’ve decided I’m gonna pull a Kaito and stick with you.”

My brow furrowed. “Pull a Kaito?”

“You know. The whole sidekick thing he’s got going on with Shuichi? I’ve decided I’m gonna follow you.”

“I doubt he follows Shuichi to his room for naps.” 

As I stepped into my dorm, Kokichi zipped past me and hopped onto my bed. “Yeah well, maybe I want a nap too! And why is your bed so much comfier than mine? No fair!”

I sighed and shut the door, climbing on too and curling up to face him. “I don’t care if you stay, just please let me sleep.” Secretly… I was glad he was there. It made me feel safe not to be alone. Even if it was with Kokichi. 

Just as my eyes were starting to close, a knock came to the door and I sighed. “What now?” I got up and shuffled to the door, opening to see Gonta and Tenko on the other side. “Can I help you?”

Gonta looked uncomfortable, like he’d been roped into something he wanted no part of, but Tenko spoke up for him. “The student council’s been deciding on some rules that are probably for the best for everyone,” she announced. “And you’re breaking one.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

She leaned to look past me at Kokichi, then looked back at me. “We decided it’s a bad idea for girls and boys to be alone together in the dorms.”

I snorted. “Fuck off.” And I shut and locked the door on them.

Kokichi was giggling on the bed as I climbed back on. “Man, you really gave no shits.”

I yawned and shook my head. “I don’t care if they think I’m getting laid. None of their fucking business.” I closed my eyes and got comfortable. “That cult’s gonna be a problem.”

“Heh, yeah. But not boring.” I felt the mattress shuffle a bit, and Kokichi’s back was suddenly pressed to my chest. I smiled a little and wrapped an arm around him, happy to spoon him. Partially because it was comfortable… but mostly because I knew it would piss off the student council.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Information on the image:   
> Jean-Paul Laurens, "Le Pape Formose et Étienne VII" ("Pope Formosus and Stephen VII"), 1870


	5. The Love Key

It must have only been a couple hours before I woke up, but when I did, Kokichi was still sound asleep. At some point I must have rolled onto my back and he was hugging on to me, his head resting on my chest. I knew I should probably push him off, but it was so comfortable. I wrapped an arm around him, rubbing his back and closing my eyes in case I could fall back to sleep.

“I know you’re awake,” murmured a sleepy voice and I opened my eyes again. “You stopped snoring.”

I huffed. “I snore?”

“Like an idling chainsaw.” I looked down to see Kokichi’s eyes looking back up at me. 

“Then why did you sleep so close if it was that bad?” I teased, still rubbing his back.

He shifted a bit and settled against me. “Mmf… Comfy.” I smiled and rested my head against his. 

“I wonder what the student council is up to?” I murmured. “Think they’re plotting their revenge.”

“Nee-heehee… We’re gonna die,” he joked. 

As if on cue, there came a knock and I lifted my head. “Who is it?”

“It’s Korekiyo.”

I tried to wiggle my way up but Kokichi clung on. “Nooo. Comfy!”

“I gotta unlock the door, dork,” I chuckled, trying to pry him off.

“Noooo!” he whined. 

“I’ll tell you another corpse story if you let go.”

“Okay!” He released me at once and I got up, unlocking the door and letting the anthropologist inside. 

I shut and locked the door behind him and when he looked at me questioningly, I explained, “Student council was bugging me earlier about having boys in my room. Been locking the door so they leave me alone.”

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “They truly are taking things a bit too far. They’ve even decided to put into place a curfew. We are expected to remain in our dorms between the nighttime and daytime announcements.”

Kokichi and I groaned in unison at the news. “Screw that. If they wanna follow those rules, go for it. But leave the rest of us alone.”

“Kehehe… That’s just it. They’ve decided they’re exempt from their own rules.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’ve read up on cults before, some of the more notorious ones, and when they start getting power and manipulating everyone, that’s when it’s time to worry.”

“I have no intentions of heeding their rules. I agree there needs to be those of us who refuse to bend to their will.”

I nodded my head. “Like I said, I grew up in the Bible Belt. I don’t wanna hear it. And a lot of cults have formed under the guise of Christianity. Like Jonestown.”

“Oooh! Is this another corpse story?” Kokichi asked. He was far too excited for the answer.

“Yes and no… It was a cult that in the late 70s, committed mass suicide by drinking poisoned Flavor Aid. They also murdered a US congressman visiting the compound and a news crew. All together, 918 people died. Men, women, children, infants… A scary lesson in the dangers of blind devotion.”

“...918?!” Kokichi asked, his smile gone. 

“There was even aerial footage from above the compound and all you could see were bodies everywhere,” I added with a shudder. “Some of them didn’t even want to participate in the suicide. They were forced.”

“Was there also not an audio recording?” Korekiyo asked.

“Wait, what?” Kokichi asked, looking disturbed, which surprised me.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “All of Jim Jones’ sermons were recorded and that one was no different. I’ve… heard the tape. It’s horrifying.”

“I could only imagine. Death by cyanide is not a painless death,” Korekiyo agreed.

“People isolated and forced to kill themselves… Sounds a little too familiar, doesn’t it?” Kokichi asked, trying to make a joke but his smile was not very convincing. “And I thought it was Kool-Aid!”

“A common misconception,” Korekiyo informed him. “However, the tragedy is where the saying “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid,” comes from.” 

“So if Angie ever offers you a drink…” I said, chuckling a little, garnering a giggle from Kokichi.

“Speaking of drinks, I was about to head to the dining hall for some supper and thought I would see if the two of you would care to join me?”

I nodded my head and got up with a stretch. “I could use some coffee.”

“Nee-heehee! You guys notice yet that we’re already our own group? You could both be perfect recruits for my organization.” Kokichi was grinning like that cat that got the cream, but I smiled, noticing that myself. I liked our trio, odd as it might be.

“I’ll join,” I said, mostly joking. “If your organization’s as evil as you say, you could use a good mortician cleaning up after you.”

“You understand then!”

“Kehehe… I’m afraid I must decline that invitation,” Korekiyo said as he opened the door for us. “I could not abandon my work as an anthropologist for such a cause. Though bearing witness to the internal dealings of an evil organization could prove to be fascinating.” 

As we stepped inside, we walked in on pure chaos. The three monokubs were in a panic, Kaito was shouting angrily at the student council, and in the center was Angie, wearing her usual gleeful smile while a flashback light lay crushed under her foot.

“You’ve gone way too far this time!” Kaito growled at her.

“It is the will of Atua! There is no need for us to remember anything more of the outside world!” Angie cheered brightly.

My eyes widened as I realized what was happening. “We got another flashback light?”

“Wrong. We  _ had _ another flashback light!” Kaito answered, absolutely seething. “But Angie decided to smash it before we could use it!”

“What about our memories?!” I shouted, feeling my blood begin to boil. “Who the hell do you think you are?!”

“We could have remembered something important about our pasts!” Korekiyo snapped, just as enraged as I was.

“Nya-haha! There is no need to worry about such things! Atua has willed us to remain here in peace,” she answered, unwavered. “And we will honor his will by casting out all temptations to leave!”

I stormed up to her, so angry I could barely control myself anymore. “You have no right! No fucking right!”

But Keebo and Gonta were suddenly there, blocking my path so I couldn’t reach her. “That’s enough!” Keebo ordered. “Atua has willed this for us and we will trust his will.”

“If the student council wants to stay, that’s fine! But forcing us to abandon our outside lives because of something you think your imaginary friend wants is cruel! Keep your fucking god out of my life!”

“Hey!” Tsumugi shouted at me. “Y- You can’t say those things! Don’t blaspheme Atua!”

“Yeah! You’re being too rude to the student council!” Gonta agreed, giving me a dangerous look. 

“Guys, guys, there is no need to worry!” Angie called, pushing Keebo and Gonta out of the way to greet me with a warm smile. “Oh Eden, I know it can be shocking to be faced by the divine will of Atua for the first time. But the anger will pass and you will be at peace. I’d love you to visit with the student council sometime. We would be happy to help ease your pain. And Atua would welcome you with open arms.”

The others seemed content that Angie had calmed the situation… but I took advantage of their naivety. Winding up, I struck Angie across the face as hard as I could, knocking her clean off her feet.

“Eden!” snapped Keebo, darting up to hold me back while Gonta and the rest of the student council rushed to Angie’s side. 

“Angie! Are you okay?” Tsumugi cried.

“Her nose is bleeding! We need to take care of that!” came Tenko’s voice.

“Nyeh..! What’s your problem?! Leave Angie alone!” Himiko shouted at me.

Angie looked up, her smile finally gone and her whole body trembling like a leaf. Blood dripped from her nose and tears flooded her eyes. “M- May… Atua h- help you, Eden.”

I wanted to scream, but Korekiyo was beside me, resting a hand on Keebo’s shoulder. “You should attend to Angie. I will take it from here.” Keebo looked hesitant, then let me go and Korekiyo’s hand was immediately grabbing my arm. “Come. We are leaving,” he said in a tone that told me not to argue. I turned and walked with him out of the dining hall, Kokichi walking on my otherside.

“Daaayum! I think you clocked her harder than you got me! Nee-heehee! Is that how you always handle getting pissed off, Eden?”

I clenched my jaw and Korekiyo pulled me to the stairs. “Kokichi, I think that perhaps it would be best if you stayed back in the dining hall. One of us should be privy to what the student council’s next move will be. I doubt this will come without repercussions.”

Kokichi frowned, but seemed to decide the task wasn’t too boring for him. “Sure, I can be a spy! They’ll never suspect me.” With a snicker, he bounded off and Korekiyo continued to pull me up the stairs, all the way to the fourth floor. I thought for sure he was taking me back to his lab, but instead we headed down the hall that contained the three empty rooms. Picking the first one, he pulled me into the dark. 

“Wh- What are you doing?” I asked, unable to see a thing. There were no lights or windows anywhere. 

I heard the strike of a match, and at once I could partially see his masked face as he lit a candle. It only helped light up the dark a little, but it was better than nothing. Before I could say anything, his hand was on my arm again, and I was pulled firmly against his body.

“Whoa! What are you-”

But I was cut off when, in one swift movement, he tugged down his mask and pressed his lips to mine. My heart stopped and I went rigid, trying to understand if this was really happening. When he broke the kiss, I couldn’t see his features but I felt his breath on my face. “Your rage is… beautiful! Your loss of control in a moment of passionate anger! Forgive me…”

It didn't make sense. Just last night he was protectively talking about a lover he had on the outside. He was refusing to do anything that might betray her. He had been acting weird but this was a whole new level. Before I could say anything, he was kissing me again, almost frenzied and my heart began to pound. He had a lover, didn’t he? Someone he said he promised his heart to? Wasn't this wrong? But the longer he held me, the less I could care. My fingers tangled into his hair and I pressed into him, opening my mouth when I felt his tongue pushing past my lips. 

I should've been stopping this... but I didn't care. He was kissing me and it felt so good. Even when I felt his swelling bulge pressing into me, signalling where this was going, I couldn't make myself stop. It didn't matter how weird or confusing the situation was. It didn't matter what I knew the right thing was. It felt so good. I stupidly decided to deal with the consequences later.

I stepped back when I needed air again and began fumbling with the buttons on his uniform while I felt his fingers curling around my shirt and tugging it off. The warmth of his mouth over my bra made me moan with need and I reached between us to palm him over his trousers, getting a mewl from him in return. 

Suddenly, his arms hoisted me up to wrap my legs around his waist, and he dropped to his knees, tipping me onto my back on the floor. His hat fell off somewhere near my head and his bandaged fingers were tugging down my pants. I hissed in pain when he aggravated my burns and he moved a little more carefully, still trying to get them off as fast as he could. There came the sounds of more clothes being removed and soon I could feel his bare chest under my palms. “Raise your hips,” he panted, and I obeyed, realizing he was placing his shirt under me. I reached to where my shirt had been tossed and sat up, taking off my bra and putting my shirt down for my upper half to lie on top of. The last thing I needed was splinters as a souvenir. 

Completely naked in front of him, I watched as he pulled off his bandages and ran his fingers down my torso, tracing every curve and line. When he got to my nipples, I whined and arched my chest into his touch, making him smile. “Beautiful…” he purred, drawing them into his mouth again, one at a time.

God, I wished I could see his face better. 

Korekiyo sat back on his haunches and undid his pants, tugging them down enough to free his cock, then lowered himself again on top of me, prodding around a bit until he finally found my entrance and sank in all the way to the hilt. We gasped together in unison and I wrapped my arms around him, holding on to him while I waited for him to move. He remained still at first, trying to savor the moment, then finally drew his hips back and began thrusting.

“Ohh… K- Korekiyo…” I moaned, trying to move my hips with his. “F- Fuck!”

He couldn’t speak. He only panted and moaned as he moved, thrusting hard and deep in a way that made me sure I would be sore later. But I didn’t care. It felt too good. I wrapped my legs around his thin waist and bucked, meeting his hips with each thrust until I could hear our bodies smacking against each other loudly in the dark. My nails dragged down his back and the sounds he made in response told me he loved it, so I continued to do it. In return, his teeth went to my neck, and he bit down hard enough to make me cry out.

“Ahh!” I heard him gasp, his movements growing erratic. “E- Eden… I’m g- going to… I n- need to…” With a shudder, he thrust harder and let out something between a grunt and a gasp as his orgasm took him. His hips bucked into mine, drawing out every last ounce of it, and before I had time to catch my breath, he slipped out of me and pried me to let go of him. I thought he was going to leave, but then I felt his fingers sink inside me and begin to pump, curling around exactly the right place and making my body arch up from the floor. 

“Oh! Oh god! Oh g- god!” I whimpered, only barely remembering I should really keep my voice down. I could feel my pleasure winding up like a hot coil inside of me, ready to release at any second. 

When he kissed me again, I came undone, gasping and crying against his lips as my walls clenched around his fingers and my legs trembled. “Yess…” he hissed. “That’s it… Show me your beauty!”

I cried out, feeling tears rolling down from the corners of my eyes, and I moved with his fingers until it became too much, and I collapsed beneath him, breathless with pleasure. I felt his body drop on top of me, unceremoniously, his face pressing on the side of my neck to give me lazy kisses. One of his hands lightly fondled my breast and I could feel his heart pounding through his chest. “Beautiful…” he breathed.

We lay like that for a long time, long enough for me to wonder if he’d fallen asleep on me. But then he began to stir and sat up, fumbling in the dark for his mask and putting it back on. Without thinking, I sat up and reached for him. “No… Please…” He turned his head to look at me and I pulled him to me, kissing him while silently hoping he wouldn’t put it back on ever again. I wanted to see his face so badly and the candles weren’t helping.

But this time, he didn’t kiss back. He simply sat still and waited for me to stop and pull back. Without a word, he got dressed and to his feet. Then he simply left. And I sat alone, naked in the dark and completely confused.

* * *

Not wanting to face anyone, I went to my dorm, curling around a pillow on the bed as I tried to get my anxiety to go down. What just happened? It had to have just been a quickie. I could understand that. But why had he been so cold and silent after? My mind went back to the lover. Maybe he was angry with me. But I wasn’t the one who started it.

But I should have said no.

And why did the way he simply left hurt?

The door opened behind me and I didn’t even need to look. “Lock it behind you,” I told Kokichi. “Still keeping the student council out.” 

The lock clicked and soon he was on the bed beside me offering me a plate of apple slices. “Good call. You are not their favorite person right now.”

“So did anything interesting happen?” I asked, sitting up and munching on an apple slice. Kokichi’s eyes wandered to my neck and a knowing grin spread on his lips. 

“Well… not to me. But it looks like something happened to you…” 

I reached to feel where he was looking and immediately was met with pain. The area where Korekiyo had bitten me must have bruised. Great. I sighed and picked up another slice to eat. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Oh-hoho! Was it really that bad? Kiyo not everything you dreamed he would be? Or did it get way too freaky too fast? Kiyo seems like the sort.”

I rolled my eyes. “He bolted right after. So if anyone was bad, it must’ve been me.” Kokichi’s head tilted to the side curiously but I shook my head. “I don’t know what happened. I don’t want to talk about it.”

He looked like he wanted to tease me, but he shrugged and popped one of the apple slices in his mouth. “Don’ worry ‘bout it,” he said with a mouthful. “Kiyo’sh jusht weird.” I giggled and he swallowed so he could talk more clearly. “You said it yourself, he’s been acting weirder than usual. Even suddenly grabbing you for a quickie’s pretty damn weird for him. Didn’t he say he already had a lover he was completely devoted to? He sure changed his mind on that fast.”

I frowned and nodded my head. “Yeah… Maybe that’s what was wrong. Fuck, I should’ve said no. Should’ve been the voice of reason. I just… wasn’t expecting him to suddenly want it.”

Kokichi chewed on another slice for a moment, then finally nudged me. “Sooo? Was it good?”

I blushed. “U- Up until the end… yeah. It was damn good.” 

“Nee-heehee. Slut.”

I nudged him back and chomped down on another slice while he fished in his pocket for something. “That reminds me. Here. You can have this. I don’t want it.” He handed over to me a weird looking key and it took me a moment to recognize what it was.

“You won one of these?” I asked in amusement. “Why’d you pick it out of the prizes if you didn’t want it?”

He shrugged. “To say I could? And to rub it in Kaito’s face. He keeps losing everything in that casino. It’s hilarious!” I snorted and put it on the nightstand.

“Well, maybe I’ll get lucky.”

* * *

I waited until after the dining hall was mostly empty before deciding to finally make something to eat. I’d been avoiding the others as much as possible, really not wanting to deal with the student council. Kokichi hung behind, having other things he wanted to do, so I was alone as I fixed myself something for dinner. 

But only for a short while. The door opened and heavy footsteps caught my attention. Gonta was coming in as I made my way to the table to eat. “H- Hi…” I said nervously, and he stopped, looking down just as uncomfortably. 

“Angie says… Atua forgives you so we need to also.” He looked back up at me. “But Eden did a very bad thing. Not right to hit anyone. Why Eden so angry?”

I frowned and picked at my food. “I…think what Angie’s doing is wrong. And I don’t like it.” I was not apologizing. I wasn’t sorry. I knew I had done the wrong thing but I wasn’t sorry. “I know it’s after curfew. I just needed to eat. I haven’t had anything all day.”

“I see… Then Gonta keep watch. Make sure Eden stays safe.” He wandered over and sat down next to me.

“Thanks, Gonta,” I said with a small smile. “You really are a gentleman, you know?”

He blushed and fidgeted awkwardly. “Gonta… try his best. Gonta wants to become true gentleman to please both families.”

“Both?”

“Uh-huh! Forest family and human family. Gonta loves them both and Gonta wants to make them proud.”

He was so pure. “Well, I think you’re doing a good job so far, Gonta.” Gonta smiled back at me and scratched the back of his head.

“Maybe… Eden not as mean as Gonta thought.”

I had to laugh then. “D- Don’t blame you for thinking that.”

“Oh! Gonta sorry! Gonta not mean to say something so rude!”

I shook my head. “No, you didn’t say anything wrong, Gonta. Don’t gotta apologize. You saw me smack one of your friends because I was pissed off. I’d get why you’d think I’m mean.”

“Gonta still sorry,” he said with a frown. “Oh, Gonta forgot to ask, but has Eden seen Kiyo anywhere?”

“Hm? Not in the last few hours. Why?”

“Because… Gonta look to make sure everyone else in their rooms for curfew. But Kiyo is missing.”

I bit my lip as I thought. “He might be in his lab. Did you look there yet?” 

“Not yet. Gonta… saving fourth floor for last. Even if Angie’s lab is there, that floor still scares Gonta.” 

I nodded with understanding. “Well… if you wanna walk me to the stairs, I can pop up there and check so you don’t have to go up there.”

He considered it for a minute, then nodded his head. “Gonta can do that.” 

I cleared my plate, and after washing it and putting it away, I walked alongside the gentle giant to the stairs to the fourth floor. “I’ll be quick, okay?” I promised him. He nodded and I ventured forth, following the halls until I reached the door to the lab. On the other side, there came two voices and I stopped, realizing they were raised as if they were arguing.

“Apologize, sweet Korekiyo! Apologize!”

It sounded like a woman… but not like one I’d heard around the school. And even if she used the words “sweet Korekiyo,” nothing in her tone was sweet. There came a loud crack followed by a cry of pain.

“Gaah! Please… Please forgive me!”

“You are weak, Korekiyo…”

_ CRACK! _

“Nng! Y- Yes… I know…”

“And what of your promise? I think you’re delaying on purpose. Have you forgotten me already? Oh sweet Korekiyo, you disappoint me.”

**_CRACK!_ **

“Aaah! Hah… Unng… Please… Please f- forgive me… I swear I have n- not abandoned you…”

“Then… keep your promise to me, Korekiyo. I’ve been waiting for too long. You don’t want me to grow lonely again, do you?”

**_CRACK!_ **

Korekiyo was screaming and my fingers curled around the handle, trying to tug the door open. But it was locked. 

“Shh! Did you hear that? Someone’s at your door, Korekiyo. Be a good boy and see who it is. Maybe she’s come back for more?”

“Nng… N- No… It’s probably… A- Angie. Or the st- student council… Curfew…”

**_CRACK!_ **

“You’re only saying that because you’re weak. You know what I want if it’s her.”

“Wh- What? No… No sh- she’s… No…”

**_CRACK!_ **

Korekiyo screamed again and I started pounding on the door. “Korekiyo, let me in!” 

A girlish giggle came from the other side. “Like a moth to the flame. Sweet Korekiyo, if you ever wish for me to forgive you, you’ll open that door and invite her in. I would so like to meet her.”

There was panting on the other side and finally movement. “I… Y- Yes. I w- will. For you.” Something in my gut twisted. Something was very wrong. And as Korekiyo’s footfalls staggered closer to the door, the urge to run arose in the back of my mind.

A hand clamped around my wrist and I was tugged away from the door. Before I could scream, a second hand clamped down on my mouth and I realized it was Kokichi who had me. “Come with me! Run!” he hissed. 

He let go of my mouth and took my hand, tugging me away from the lab, and I broke into a run with him, needing a place to hide. “This way!” he whispered, heading for the hall with the empty rooms. He pulled me to the farthest one and we stepped inside, hiding behind the door and waiting. I hoped he wouldn’t go looking this far, but soon the door to the first room opened and I could hear it. Then the door to the middle room. Kokichi pulled away and bent down, fumbling with the floor until he was able to lift a board. Thank god they weren’t nailed down!

“Down here!” he whispered, and I felt around until I found the hole, slipping through and reaching up to help slide the board back in place. I shrank to the ground, feeling Kokichi holding on to me, and I cupped my hand over my mouth, trying to keep from breathing too loudly. 

The door above opened and I didn’t move an inch, waiting in fear. What was wrong with him? Who was he talking to? What was he planning to do if he found me?

The door closed again, and finally the footsteps made their way down the hall and away. I let out a shaky breath and stood up when it was safe, pushing the board out of the way and climbing back out, along with Kokichi. The two of us headed back down the stairs where Gonta was waiting for us. “Eden! Gonta was worried. Korekiyo came down alone. Gonta thought maybe Eden was lost?”

“Phsh! That’s Eden for ya. If it’s not a corpse, she won’t know her way around it.” Kokichi’s ability to instantly act like nothing had happened was jarring to say the least.

“Y- Yeah,” I answered, forcing a smile. “Well, sorry to worry you. We’ll head to bed now. Thanks, Gonta.” 

We left then and I kept my eyes open for any signs of Korekiyo anywhere. Once we were safely in my dorm with the door locked, I dropped on the bed and held my head in my hands. “What the hell was that? Who was in there with him?”

Kokichi gave me a look of disbelief. “You still haven’t figured it out yet? No one was in there with him! He was talking to himself!”

“N- No… I heard a woman. I know I heard a woman.” Had I?

“No. There was no one else in there. He was talking to himself. I’ve seen him do it before. And it’s been getting worse.” 

I blinked. “A… A split personality?”

Kokichi shrugged. “Only thing I know is she sure as hell does not like you.” 

I shuddered and looked around. “Please stay in here tonight? I don’t feel safe.”

“Phsh. None of us are safe, don’t you get that?” I gave him a look and he frowned. “Fiiine. Just let me get my pajamas first.” 

* * *

I didn’t know how late it was when I finally fell asleep, Kokichi already snoring next to me. But I was beginning to resign myself to not being able to sleep when I suddenly drifted off. 

And then I wasn’t in my dorm. Instead I was in a room that looked like some sort of trashy honeymoon suite complete with a heart-shaped bed. There was also some bondage gear off to the side and a hot tub on the other side. Just as I was starting to wonder what I was doing here, I remembered. The love key Kokichi gave me.

I had no real want to be there, so I turned for the door.

“Kehehe… Leaving so soon?”

I froze and looked over my shoulder. Korekiyo was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching me with amusement. My heart started pounding but not in a good way.

“Stay away from me! Don’t touch me!”

“Oh? But you were the one who showed an interest in me, were you not?” There was nothing malicious in his eyes but that didn’t make me trust him.

“I don’t kn- know what’s going on with you… but I’m leaving. I don’t want this.”

I felt behind me for the doorknob, not feeling safe enough to turn my back to him, but just as my fingertips brushed against it, he was suddenly lunging from his spot and had me by the wrist. With a sharp pull that sent pain through my shoulder, he threw me onto the bed and was on top of me before I could fight him.

“No!” I screamed, struggling. “I said no! I said no!” But he wasn’t letting up, cackling instead as his fingers reached for my shirt. Having no other choice, I drew my knee up and nailed him between the legs as hard as I could, sending him toppling off of me with a cry of agony. As soon as he was off, I was on my feet and running for the door. 

“W- Wait… Eden? Eden!”

Something in his tone was… very different. Not even close to the one he had been using mere seconds ago. I turned to look at him and his eyes were wide with horror and confusion. “Where…? How?” 

I stood still, trying to understand what I was seeing. In any event, my hand was firmly on the door handle ready to sprint at any second. 

He looked like he didn’t know where he was or how he had gotten there. He tried to get up, but the pain I’d dealt him caused him to drop with a wheeze. “Nnng! Wh- What is… What’s h- happened? Why a- am I…”

Everything in me was screaming to run, but the look of panic in his eyes…

“It’s… the hotel,” I answered. “I don’t know why we’re here. I got a key but I don’t remember coming here…” I stayed in place but did not let go of the doorknob.

He looked around again, then groaned and grabbed between his legs. “Ahh! Wh- Why does it h- hurt?”

If this was an act, it was a damn good one.

“Because you wouldn’t get off of me when I screamed at you to.”

He looked horrified. “I… I d- did  _ what?! _ ” He sat up slowly, cringing in pain and I stood frozen, trying to decide what to do. I should’ve been running. I should’ve been getting as far away from him as I could. But the look on his face…

“You don’t remember?” I asked. He shook his head, his whole body shaking. 

“Wh- Why am I h- here? Why w- would I… I w- would never… I…” He was stuttering so badly he couldn’t form a complete sentence, and I noticed how stiffly he moved. The sounds I’d heard in his lab came back to mind. 

“Is your crotch the only thing that’s hurting?” I felt a little embarrassed asking that but something was wrong. He shook his head and I realized it had to be something under his clothes because nothing was immediately visible. “Where are you hurt?” Again he shook his head, not wanting to show me. “Kiyo, I heard someone yelling at you in your lab. I heard you screaming. I know someone was hurting you.” He hung his head, squeezing his eyes shut. “Where are you hurt?” I repeated. 

“P- Please… Please d- don’t. Don’t m- make me sh- show you…” His breathing was growing ragged and his shaking grew worse. 

I took a deep breath. This had better not be a mistake. Slowly, I stepped away from the door and closer. When I was close enough to reach out and touch his shoulder, he jumped and his eyes flashed open with alarm. At once he began to shrink away. “N- No! No d- d- don’t! Don’t c- come closer! D- Don’t!”

“I’m not gonna hurt you,” I promised, moving closer. “Please… let me look. I know someone was hurting you.”

As if surrendering, Korekiyo stopped moving and hung his head, still hugging himself was he fought with his breathing. I slipped behind him, lightly running my fingers down his back. He flinched and whimpered almost immediately. “Ahh!” 

Biting my lip, I very carefully pushed up the jacket of his uniform and the button down as well. Korekiyo flinched and hissed with pain but did not pull away, and soon I was uncovering deep, angry looking, red lines. I felt my gut drop. “Oh… my god… Were you whipped?!” 

He let out a sob, hiding his face in his hands and I eased his clothes back down. “D- Don’t… Don’t t- tell anyone…” he begged. “Sh- She’ll… be a- angry…”

“Who? Who did this?” I asked in horror, looking around to see if there was at least a first aid kit somewhere.

Korekiyo’s sobbing slowly quieted down. Then stopped. And then… giggling. Very feminine giggling.

“Oh, sweet Korekiyo, you disappoint me. You truly have grown weak to pain. It looks like I must take matters into my own hands.”

I looked back at him, feeling that need to run rising again. His hand went to his mask and he pulled it down. His body twisted slowly around to face me and bright red lips were smiling at me. “Such a silly girl. Why would you waste your time on her, Korekiyo? Don’t worry. I’ll make sure she’ll not bother you again.”

In a flash, hands were around my neck and I was pinned to the bed, clawing at him while breathing became impossible.

* * *

“Whoa! What the hell?! Eden, wake up! Wake up!”

I shot upright with a scream, grabbing at my throat and gasping for air. Nearby a light was turned on and Kokichi was in front of me on the bed again. “K- Kiyo!” I choked, looking around with alarm, trying to remember where I was. It wasn’t the hotel. I was back in my dorm.

Kokichi started laughing. “Ohh maan… Things get a little too kinky in dreamworld?” 

Dream… It was a dream… And there was Korekiyo and… and… 

My mind was drawing a blank. What happened? I could still feel panic and horror, and my heart was racing a million miles an hour. But… what happened? I couldn’t remember.

“I… I d- don’t know… I don’t remember…” And what little I did remember was leaving my mind at a rapid pace until it was gone. My breathing slowed and my heart settled gradually. “M- Must’ve… Must’ve just been a bad dream.”

Kokichi frowned. “Awww you woke me up with that and you can’t even remember? Well that’s boring. I’m going back to sleep.” With that, he rolled over and pulled the blankets back up around him. 

I settled back down, rolling my back to him and fighting to try to remember what the hell had happened. Something had happened. I didn’t just wake up screaming and feeling that afraid for no reason. What happened? 

Behind me, the bed shifted as Kokichi rolled over and I felt his arm wrap around me. “Go to sleeeep,” he groaned. “You’re thinking too loud. It’s keeping me awake.”

I huffed. “I’m…  _ thinking  _ too loud?” 

He snorted and started giggling, the reality of how weird of a complaint that was setting in. “Just… tell your brain to shut up and go back to sleep.”


	6. A Body Has Been Discovered

“A body has been discovered!”

My hand reached out to slam down on the nozzle to the shower as I prayed I didn’t just hear that. But I had. And it was in Angie’s lab. Scrambling to throw my clothes on, I ran into the school and up to the fourth floor where everyone else was gathered. What was waiting inside was nothing I could have expected.

Life-sized wax effigies of everyone who died hung upside down from the rafters, a katana driven into Kaede’s sculpture, and Angie, curled in the fetal position on the floor in a pool of her own blood. This was happening again.

“Wh- Who would do this?!” cried Gonta. “Who would kill Angie?!”

“Well it’s obvious isn’t it?” Miu answered, looking directly at me. “Why don’t ya ask the person who hated her the most! We totally saw her cold-cock the girl in the dining hall yesterday.”

I felt the color drain from my face. “What?! No!” I exclaimed. “I hated what she was doing but that doesn’t mean I’d kill her!”

“Guys… this isn’t the time to jump to conclusions,” Maki spoke up in her usual firm tone. “Making assumptions is going to get us all killed. We need to handle this right.”

“She’s right,” agreed Shuichi. “No matter what everyone thinks right now, we have to investigate everything to be sure.”

“What if… it wasn’t one of us?” Tsumugi asked. “What if it was the vengeful spirit of the transfer student?”

Kaito let out a scream and went into a panic that distracted everyone away from me. I moved closer to Kokichi, my heart racing. “Th- This is bad! They’re really going to try to prove I did it!”

“Relaaaax. I got your alibi. You’re not gonna die. We’ll figure this out and win this killing game!” He was grinning and I glared at him.

“Stop treating this like it’s fun! This isn’t fun!” But he laughed and waved me off.

After the Monokuma File was delivered and we all looked it over, Korekiyo spoke up, offering a more unorthodox solution. “We could speak to her directly. I myself have participated in seances many times, and there is one I would love to try.”

“Stop making jokes like that!” Tenko objected. “This isn’t the time for that!”

“Is it not? How much easier would it be if we could ask Angie herself and learn the truth? It would be the most effective route, would it not?”

I looked at him, not sure whether or not to be surprised by his suggestion. “If you could do this all along, then why is this the first time you’re bringing it up?” I asked him.

Korekiyo didn’t look at me as he fiddled with his chain. “Because I was not able to do so the last two times. Remember, my lab was only just recently made available to me. As were the supplies inside. Without them, I would be unable to perform the ritual.” 

“Well if that’s an option now, I say we go for it! Make all our lives easier,” Kokichi eagerly agreed. “I’m in!”

“Then… I’ll help too. If it means I can talk to Angie again,” Himiko agreed.

“I’ll help too!” Tenko immediately echoed. “Don’t worry, Himiko! We’ll get justice for Angie!”

Unable to deny I was a little curious myself, I spoke up. “I’ll help as well.”

Korekiyo looked up at me and sighed. “I’m afraid I… cannot allow that. Your skepticism would make you incompatible for the ritual. You would make it an utter failure and I cannot afford to take such risks.” 

I blinked, shocked at how cold his tone was. And something in the back of my mind began to prickle. Something about my nightmare… I knew he was a part of it but I couldn’t remember… 

“However, we still require one more person,” he continued, addressing the rest of the room and ignoring me completely. 

“Fiiiiiine…” Kokichi groaned. “Kee-boy can come with.”

“Me?! Why me?!” the robot cried.

But of course there was no use in arguing. He had a way of being roped into things he never agreed to. When they left I felt my heart sink. I still didn’t know if I trusted Korekiyo anymore, and what I’d heard in his lab was still bothering me… but it still hurt.

“Well, if you’re going to help us investigate, would you mind helping us investigate the body?” Shuichi asked with a gentle smile.

“Oh… uh… yeah. Let me take a look…” I walked over to Angie’s corpse and very carefully looked over her injuries. Just like the file stated, there was an injury on her forehead but it didn’t look severe enough to be the killing blow. Then I looked on the back of her neck and pointed it out. “That had to be what killed her. Her spinal cord could have been severed and given how much blood is all over the floor, I’m guessing an artery or two was hit. I can’t tell though without some kind of scan and even then, that’s more of a coroner’s job. This is just the best guess I have.”

Shuichi nodded his head as he took in my best educated guess. “Shuichi… If you want my alibi, I was in my room last night and Kokichi can corroborate that. I’ve been having nightmares so I asked him to stay in my room.”

“You’ve been letting Kokichi sleep in your room?” Maki asked suspiciously her eyes wandering to my neck. Again, I’d forgotten about the mark Korekiyo had given me. “And that helps you not have nightmares.”

“Well… it kinda makes sense,” Shuichi offered with an awkward laugh. “I think she might be the only friend he has. He doesn’t really treat her the same way he treats the rest of us. I’m… gonna trust that it’s just innocent.”

“Hah! Sure it is!” Miu taunted. “I can see that love bite from here!” 

“Stop talking!” I snapped at her, before looking back to Shuichi. “I was on the fourth floor briefly after curfew, but that was only to look for Korekiyo, and Gonta can back me up as well. Kiyo was still inside and Gonta wanted help finding him.”

“Did you find him?” Maki asked.

I had to lie. I didn’t want to tell them what I’d heard. If Kokichi was right and it really was just Korekiyo talking to himself and doing God knows what to make himself scream like that, that would make him sound insane enough to possibly be the blackened. And I wanted to talk to him first before breathing a word of it to anyone. “No. We just missed each other, but Gonta saw him leaving. I was shortly behind him.” 

“That’s right!” Gonta spoke up. “Gonta saw Eden go look for Kiyo. Kokichi was there too, looking for Eden. They all came back very quickly. Gonta… not think any of them could have been up here long enough to do all this.”

I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Gonta. 

“Okay,” Shuichi replied, smiling at both of us. “Thanks for the information. It’ll help a lot.” We split up then to look around and I headed to Korekiyo’s lab, wanting to look and see if the katana had come from his display case. Sure enough, the case was empty, but Korekiyo had admitted he never locked his lab so anyone could have come in and taken it. But it had been locked at one point last night. I knew that for a fact. Walking past it, I looked to see if I could find any clues about the disturbing sounds I’d heard the night before.

There was nothing out of place, which wasn’t a surprise as the anthropologist seemed to be very careful with everything in his lab. But something caught my eye. Along a wall of ancient weapons and similar objects used for rituals, there hung a cat of nine tails. I knew I had seen them before in movies during scenes of self-flagellation, and the nine thick strands looked stained...

Angry red lines darted across my memory and I jumped, feeling my gut beginning to rebel. 

“Whatcha doing- Whoa! You’re really pale.” Kokichi had managed to sneak up on me but I was too nauseated to react. “Hey! Are you gonna puke? Because Kiyo’s gonna be pissed if you do it on his collection.”

“N- No…” I stammered, stepping back and looking away from the whip. “Just… thought I saw something. What are you doing here?”

“We forgot to bring the cloth for the seance so I was sent back to get it. You should see how seriously Kiyo’s taking this. I hope it works! I wanna see a ghost!” I sighed and shook my head.

“Let me know if it works. I don’t know what his problem is.”

“If it works, Kaito will be the first to know. I’ll make sure of that.” With a grin, he turned then and headed to get the cloth, roping Shuichi into joining him as he left. 

“Eden,” Maki spoke up. “I think we’ve finished investigating the body. Maybe you should collect it now so no one messes with it.”

“Oh… Yeah I should. Can you give me a hand? I won’t be able to get her down the stairs by myself.” Maki nodded her head and followed me to my lab, fetching a body bag and latex gloves.

We had only barely gotten Angie stored away when…

“A body has been discovered!”

We both froze and looked to the monitor. “Please tell me this is a joke…” Maki said darkly.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…” I gasped. 

When they announced it was in the seance room I panicked and took off, afraid it would be Korekiyo or Kokichi. If it was either of them... It was bad enough that it was anyone at all, but if it was them…

The thought of having either of them on my table made me run even faster. 

“T- Tenko!” 

The scream was Himiko’s voice, and I threw the door open, my eyes immediately falling on Tenko’s body, curled like Angie’s had been, and blood pooling underneath her. 

“What the hell is this?!” Kaito shouted. “Two bodies?!”

“What happened?” Maki immediately asked Shuichi. “Did you see it?”

“It was pitch black…”

“Why… Why did the seance fail?” Korekiyo lamented from the corner.

“Really?! That’s what you’re worried about?!” Miu snapped at him. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

But he was ignoring her, staring at his destroyed setup in dismay. “It all went exactly as it should. So why did it fail?”

I couldn’t believe him but I pushed him from my mind as I headed over to look at the body. Just like Angie, a similar killing injury had been inflicted on the back of her neck, only it looked like it had gone deeper this time. Maybe the killer had grown more confident. I shook my head and got to my feet, telling Shuichi what I’d found. “I’m… gonna go get another body bag… Shit.”

As I stepped out, a new sight caught my eye and I was screaming before I realized it.

Kokichi lay on the floor face down, blood dripping from his face and not moving. My legs gave out from under me and I let out a shriek, feeling my vision spinning when…

“It’s a lie!”

Kokichi was looking up with a large smile on his face while others were darting from the seance room to see what the commotion was. 

“Kokichi! What are you doing?!” Shuichi shouted at him. 

Kokichi wobbled to his feet, blood dripping down his face and his skin even more pale than usual. He looked like he was about to pass out. “Hah… S- Sorry… Really dizzy… from the blood loss…”

“Well then tell us what you were doing and pass out later,” Maki replied with annoyance.

“Oh y- yeah… I was curious about something so… went to check the room next door. And I fell through a floor board!” He was somehow still smiling though his eyes were pretty glassy.

“What?” Shuichi asked.

“Yeah… the crossbeam was missing and I fell! Really hard! Haha… what luck, huh?”

“Did you find anything else?” Maki asked, not caring at all.

“I double checked the book on the seance,” he continued, bracing himself on a wall. “I wanted to see if Kiyo messed it up anywhere. But he had it exactly. Down to the magic circle… Wh- Whoa… room’s starting to spin…”   
  
I finally got to my feet, still shaking. “I’ve got sutures in my l- lab,” I stammered, wiping away tears. “I’ll take care of this.” I made my way up to Kokichi and helped support him before we headed down the stairs.

“You sh- shoulda seen… your face! I can’t believe you a- actually screamed!”

I snapped around and walked him into the wall, pinning him and grabbing him by the shirt. The trickster stared back at me, dazed and confused. “D- Don’t do that again! Don’t  _ ever _ do that again! Y- You can’t die! I don’t e- ever want you on m- my table! Don’t do that to me again!” I hadn’t realized how loud I was being until there came footsteps and I looked up. Korekiyo was at the top of the stairs, staring at us curiously. I let go of Kokichi’s shirt, then wrapped my arm back around him for support and left without acknowledging Korekiyo at all.

Once we were in my lab, I knew the announcement for the trial would come soon, so I hurried, apologizing for not having any topical anesthetic to numb him. “Hah I get it… Corpses don’t feel pain…” I started stitching him up, apologizing every time he flinched or whimpered, but amazingly, he managed to hold still. “Y- You actually cried… You thought I was dead.”

My jaw clenched. “It wasn’t funny,” I answered. “Like it or not, I care about you. I don’t want you dead.”

He didn’t say anything right away, picking at his nails thoughtfully. “What about Kiyo?”

I paused. “I don’t want him dead either. I don’t want anyone dead.”

“But what about what happened last night? I’m pretty sure he was gonna kill you if I hadn’t saved your ass.”

I sighed and finished up, just as the trial announcement was made. “I… I don’t know what to think a- about what happened… Something’s wrong with him. But I don’t want him dead. You two are my best friends. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost either of you.” 

Kokichi lowered his eyes. My answer seemed to make him sad but I didn’t understand why. I gently cleaned the blood off his face and we headed out to the trial grounds in silence.   


* * *

When the trial began, I knew it was going to be bad. We had two victims this time and a lot had been happening behind the scenes that had made me worried. I was still shaky from the bad sleep from the night before, and from the sudden scare Kokichi had given me with his fall. And Korekiyo… Whatever was happening with him was making me more and more nervous.

We began by addressing Tenko’s murder. Even if Monokuma said her murderer would not be punished with this trial, she still deserved to have the truth revealed. As the possible killers narrowed down to only the people in the room participating in the seance, I felt the color beginning to drain from my face and my hands starting to shake. No… No it couldn’t be…

But it was. Shuichi broke it down perfectly. Every detail, step by step until it was undeniable. And in case there was any doubt left, Korekiyo removed it in an instant, spreading out his arms with a gleeful cry of, “Wonderful! That’s exactly correct!”

I felt something inside my heart shatter and my legs began to grow weak. The room was spinning and I had to grip down on the edges of my podium or I was going to fall.

“Let me guess, you’ll never forgive me? Himiko, you must hate me so very much,” he continued. By his tone, I knew he was smiling under that damn mask. “Maybe you would feel better if I was executed by Monokuma.”

I jerked my head in his direction. “Why are you mocking her?! What the hell is wrong with you?!” I cried. “You murdered her friend!”

“Kehehe…” He cackled, closing his eyes. He hadn’t looked at me once. “I killed Tenko, that much is true. But I’m afraid it’s a trivial matter in this trial. I am not the culprit who will be punished. All that matters is Angie’s killer.”

I didn’t know how to feel. Rage… heartbreak… betrayal… And poor Himiko! My heart broke for her. “Tenko’s death is not trivial!” I almost screamed at him.

“It’s voting time! I’m voting for him!” Himiko shouted in anger.

But Shuichi interjected, pointing out that Korekiyo was, unfortunately, right. The trial was about Angie’s killer. Not Tenko’s. And… I didn’t like how I felt. I was angry that Korekiyo would not be punished. I was relieved that he would not be punished. I hated him. I cared about him. Two warring sides were inside of me and I felt like my head would rip apart.

But the trial pressed on. We talked about the things found at Angie’s crime scene, discussed the murder weapon, and some bits of evidence found at Tenko’s crime scene that were out of place. And the more we talked… the more a new horrible truth crept closer. Before anyone even said it, I was already in tears, remaining as silent as possible to not draw attention. No one was going to mourn over this blackened. I couldn’t let them see me do it.

Then, out of nowhere, something in Korekiyo snapped. He began to stutter, his body shaking with outrage and his hands gripping his face as his breathing grew ragged. “A- All clear?! Wh- What are y- you… You… Y- You what?! You…” 

His hand snapped up, grabbing onto his mask and tugging it down, and revealed bright red lips that made something inside me scream. “I will not fear! I will not back down!” declared a very feminine voice. The same voice I had heard berating him in his lab. My blood froze in my veins. Kokichi had been right. 

“Sweet Korekiyo… calm yourself,” the voice soothed. “Their words are all hollow. Look at their sorry faces. We must teach them a lesson, Korekiyo.” Her eyes wandered to me and a smile curled her lips.

Next to me, Kokichi looked at me, then back at Korekiyo, seeming to piece something together in his mind.

Korekiyo pulled his mask back up and nodded his head. “Y- Yeah. You’re right… Kehehe… you’re right.”

“What’s happening?” Miu shouted. “He’s giving me the goddamn willies!”

But he ignored her and anyone else who was making comments. “I will not acknowledge your allegations! Your deductions! I will not acknowledge fiction… Mystery… Nothing is clear at all!”

And just like that, he and Shuichi became entangled in a frenzied debate, Korekiyo dodging every bit of evidence Shuichi threw at him while his mask occasionally came down, either to praise him or mock us. Occasionally, Korekiyo would begin to lose his temper and then the mask would come down to scold him, telling him to stop stuttering and keep his voice down. It was like watching a horror movie and all I could do was stand there in shock.

Finally… Shuichi had won, and Korekiyo let out a shriek that was almost inhuman. There was no more room for doubt and even Korekiyo seemed to have finally lost the will to argue, trembling as he fought back tears. But before he could cry, the mask came down again, the red smile gone and wearing a disappointed expression instead. “Sweet Korekiyo… there are times when it is necessary to admit defeat.”

He drew the mask back over his face, shaky and his voice wavering. “A- Admit?... Yeah… Okay.”

“So you’re finally gonna admit it?” Kaito growled at him.

“Unfortunately… yes,” he answered. For a moment, he looked like he may have actually felt remorse, but then that damn snicker came back. “Kehehe… My regret… my only regret… was not being able to make 100 friends…”

My brow furrowed and everyone else made the same look of confusion. “You… what?” I asked, my voice rough.

“And I was so close!” he declared, ignoring me. “I was so very close to 100!”

“Shuichi…” Himiko asked, looking completely drained of any energy she had left. “Please… can we end this? Can we just make it stop?”

Voting time… It was coming. And I knew I needed to do it. I had to do it. I was going to die if I didn’t do it. But… 

No. I had to. I had to do what was right. No matter how much I hated it. 

I hated this. 

I hated him.

“G- Goddamn y- you…” I whispered, pressing the button and standing back to wait for the results. 

Of course we were right. We knew we were right before Monokuma confirmed it. As we stepped off our podiums, I walked away from the others, standing to the back and hugging myself while we all waited for an explanation, if he would give one at all.

“All of this… I did for the one I love. My beloved sister.”

I blinked and glanced at Kokichi who gave me the same confused look.

“Sister?” Gonta asked. “Gonta… not understand.”

“Kehehe… It is not that difficult. My sister is my lover.”

...What?

My mind went back to the voices I’d heard last night. The feminine voice berating him, demanding an apology, the sounds of what I was certain was the stained whip I’d found in his lab… Even the way she spoke during the trial…

Oh god…

“I loved her so deeply,” he continued. “And she loved me so deeply. We are bound together by love and none will ever tear us apart. But… she died and her ghost now lives inside of me. I am never lonely. And I have promised to send her 100 friends so she will never be lonely.”

“O- Oh… my god…” I whispered, feeling sick. Kokichi looked at me and I stared at Korekiyo. “S- So close to 100? You… You killed people before you got here?”

His smile was condescending. “Many many more. Oh Eden, will you forever remain naive?”

I felt Kokichi’s hand on my wrist and looked to him as he shook his head at me.

“Not just anyone, mind you,” he continued even though I didn’t want to hear more. “All had to be worthy of Sister. And all had to be girls. I have spent my time here observing the girls, and all except for Miu, Maki… and Eden are worthy to be her friends.”

“Hmm…” Kokichi hummed while grinning with his eyes narrowing. “Or maybe you didn’t want to send Eden to her because you couldn’t make yourself kill her. All those pesky feelings got in the way and you knew your sister wouldn’t like that. That’s why you tried to disobey her last night after you boned Eden.”

“Boned her?” Miu cried, looking at me. “You really fucked that creep?!”

“Nee-heehee!” Kokichi giggled. “Man! Good thing that wasn’t during the time you set up the seesaw trick or we would have totally bumped into each other under the floor! Bet you’re relieved your sister didn’t get her way.”

My nails were digging into my arms and I hung my head, letting out a sob.

“Kokichi, shut up,” Maki warned. “You’re making it worse.”

“She doesn’t love you, Kiyo,” I said, looking up at him slowly. Korekiyo’s head tilted curiously at me. “Look at your back and tell me that’s love. It’s not. She controlled you in life and n- now she’s controlling you in d- death. And the sad thing is you’ll never see it.”

Korekiyo’s eye twitched and his shoulders tensed. I knew I had made him angry, but the mask was tugged down again and the ‘sister’ was smiling at me. “What a sad girl,” she sighed. “I don’t know what my poor little brother saw in you. But don’t worry. I’ll take very good care of him. I’m sorry we could never become friends. Such a shame you’ll never see him again.” Her voice trailed off and just in time. As Korekiyo pulled his mask back into place, Monokuma had him taken off to his execution.

While we watched the screen, waiting to see what Monokuma had planned with dread, Maki stepped next to me and looked me in the eyes. “You don’t have to watch this, Eden. No one will blame you. In fact, I don’t think you should watch it.”

“Maki Roll’s right,” Kaito agreed. “Don’t do this to yourself.”

I took a shaky breath and shook my head. “I c- can do this,” I whispered. They looked like they wanted to argue, but said nothing more and looked back to the screen instead.

Korekiyo was tied up and hanging from the ceiling while the remaining monokubs surrounded him, striking his sides to make his body spin. Faster and faster… until his face turned blue and I was sure he would be sick. Then the rope was cut and he plummeted through a trapdoor and into a cauldron. Below the cauldron, a fire had started and the monokubs began adding wood and fuel to make it burn hotter.

“Oh god…!” I gasped. I knew what happened to the human body when it was boiled alive. I knew what he was about to go through. This couldn’t be happening. Monokuma wouldn’t…

But the fire beneath grew stronger and the water boiled, Korekiyo’s skin turning a dark red and hot steam rising from his body. Without thinking, I began stuttering out the thoughts that were going through my head.

“Body fat b- begins to break d- down… internal org- organs cook… intern- nal fluids c- cook… He c- can sm- smell his b- body cook… St- Steam burns l- l- lungs from... i- inside…”

“Eden,” a voice was speaking next to me, but I couldn’t stop.

“You w- won’t pass out. You won’t g- go into sh- shock… Isn’t f- fast… Nerves s- send panicked s- signals to… brain before d- dying… E- Eyes will c- cook… E- Excruciating pain...”

“Eden...”

“Turn her around! Don’t make her watch this!”

Hands were on me, trying to turn me away from the screen but I fought, watching until he somehow disappeared into the boiling water. A blue spirit flashed its way out of the cauldron and Korekiyo’s ghost appeared, smiling as if finally at peace. He began flying towards the heavens, a female ghost lunging out to him with open arms. It had to be his sister.

But it got worse.

Out of nowhere, Monokuma appeared and began throwing salt on the ghost. And he wasn’t alone. Korekiyo’s sister was smiling excitedly as she cast salt on his ghost as well and I watched as he gripped at his face, screaming while he seemed to melt away and disappear. Banished.

_ Such a shame you will never see him again... _

“NO!” I screamed. “NO! YOU BASTARDS! NO!” 

“Eden…” came Kaito’s voice and I felt several hands on me, trying to hold me up as my legs gave out. I was pulled into a hug, and I found myself sobbing into the astronaut’s shoulder, clutching on to him tighty as he held me. 

“B- Bastard..!” I wept. “F- Fucking b- b- bastard! I hate him! I hate him!” But I wasn’t talking about Monokuma and I think they knew that. “I’m s- so stupid! I’m so stupid!”

“No. You’re not,” Maki replied, resting a hand on my shoulder. “You tried to see the good in him and you believed in him. He’s the monster. Not you.”

But that didn’t make me feel any better. And when Himiko began to wail and sob for her lost friends, it made me feel even worse. I should have known this would happen. I should have told someone what had happened the night before. What Kokichi and I had heard. If I had only told someone…

“I’m s- sorry!” I cried. “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! H- Himiko… Tenko… Angie… I’m so sorry!”

I don’t know when it happened, but as if a domino effect had been set off, the others began crying as well. Crying for all we had endured, what we were still enduring, everyone we’d lost, everyone who had betrayed us… And it felt like there would never be enough tears. Kokichi rested his hand on my shoulder and gently pulled me away from Kaito, holding on to me instead. “Shhh…” he whispered. “You’ve got friends here. And they all care about you.” I felt him sniffle and he buried his face in my shoulder as well. “I c- care about you t- too. So you c- can’t give up.”


	7. Apologize

I knew I couldn’t sleep, so rather than follow the others back to the dorms, I set about collecting Tenko’s body from the seance room and bringing her back to my lab to take care of along with Angie. When I stepped inside, the cauldron was waiting for me with the worst stench rising out of it. I had to grip the counter to keep from collapsing. 

“Special delivery!” cheered Monokuma as he popped out from behind the cauldron. “One piping hot order of Anthropologist Stew!”

“GET OUT OF HERE!” I shrieked at him. “GET OUT OR I’LL THROW YOU IN MY OVEN AND COOK YOU MYSELF!”

“Puhuhuhu! No good deed goes unpunished, huh? You could at least be grateful after all the hard work I put in for you! I’m gonna let that threat slide this once. But next time I won’t be so generous!” 

He was gone as suddenly as he appeared and I shuddered, staring at the cauldron with repulsion. A knock at the door made me jump and I spun around. “No, Kokichi! You don’t want to see this!”

“Can I come in?”

It wasn’t Kokichi. I opened the door and Maki stepped inside. Her eyes fell on the cauldron and she sighed. “I had a feeling he would do something like this.”

“I c- can’t even cry anymore,” I muttered, shaking my head. “This is  _ sick _ .” 

“That’s what Monokuma is. Despair in its sickest form.” She approached the cauldron with trepidation, then stopped near it. “If you’re going to work on the bodies tonight, I’m helping you take care of his. You shouldn’t be doing this alone.”

I shook my head. “You don’t want to see this.”

“No. I don’t. But I’m not letting you torture yourself alone. There’s so few of us left. We need to be looking out for each other.”

I hesitated, but ultimately nodded my head. “Okay… Help me get the oven open.”

There was no way Korekiyo’s body could be salvaged. I knew that before even looking at him. And I was putting off looking at him for as long as possible. His body had curled and locked into the fetal position, but I could see burned flesh floating in the water. Pushing back the urge to vomit, I got dressed in waterproof protective gear, along with Maki, and on the count of three, we pulled him out and onto the table.

I couldn’t look. I did everything I could to look as little as possible though it wasn’t avoidable. As soon as we could, we fed him into the cremation oven and I turned it on before running to the nearest bin to throw up.

Maki waited for me to finish before speaking up again. “We should wait and take care of Tenko and Angie tomorrow. I’m guessing Kokichi will want to assist you like he always does. And I think it would be a good idea to ask Himiko what she thinks would be right for Angie and Tenko. Cremation or burial.”

I thought about it, then nodded my head. “Yeah… You’re right.” We stripped off our gear, tossing it where it belonged, then headed back towards the dorms.

“Did you really sleep with him?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I answered, not caring anymore. “It just happened. I didn’t expect it. And then his sister punished him. Or… he punished himself… I still don’t know.” I hugged myself and dug my nails into my arms. “I’m… supposed to hate him. Right? Because I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to feel.”

Maki sighed. “It’s not like it’s black and white. You two were close. And then he blindsided you with something horrible. Doesn’t mean it suddenly erases the things you felt. No one’s going to blame you.”

“I… I still should have seen this coming. I should have stopped him. I should have known…”

“You couldn’t have known. Not without knowing what was going on in his head. Don’t start blaming yourself. That’s a dangerous slope that’ll destroy you. Trust me.” We headed into the building and I made my way to the stairs. “Eden… feel what you need to. But don’t lose yourself to this. We have to get away from here. We have to survive. For all of those who died, even for Kiyo… we have to survive.”

* * *

I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes I saw a boiling cauldron and Korekiyo’s skin turning more and more red. I could see that boiled corpse floating in the water. I could still smell it. I would never forget that smell.

I felt so stupid. I had liked him. A lot. He was handsome, his voice was alluring, and I felt like I could talk with him all day and never get bored. And all this time he was a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off. 

I hated what he’d done. How badly he’d hurt all of us. He was a murderer and god knows how many lives he destroyed. It was horrible and I knew that. And I hated that I still felt so much loss over him. Monsters were supposed to be easy to hate. I needed to hate him. I just didn’t know how.

Deciding that sleep would never come, I got up from bed and decided to go for a walk. It was three in the morning, but it was unlikely the student council was going to stop me. That thought made me hurt. Not because I would miss their rules, but the reason why they wouldn’t be banding together to enforce them anymore. Angie may have pissed me off with forming her cult and Tenko’s hatred towards men may have gotten on my nerves, but I never wanted them dead.

Wiping tears from my eyes, I headed into the school to walk around. And I didn’t know why, but I wound up gravitating towards  _ his _ lab.

It felt like a museum the first time I saw it. Now it just felt like an abandoned exhibit. Everything was in exactly its right place. Even the katana had been restored to its display. It was almost like it was still being cared for when I knew no one was there to do it anymore. 

_ Such a shame you will never see him again… _

I looked around me, trying to remember the few times I’d spent in there with the anthropologist and Kokichi. The three of us looking through his relics and listening to his stories… I tried to remember how that had felt. But looking around, all I could feel was that I was looking at a museum of true crime. The katana he’d stabbed Angie with… The cage he’d rigged a seesaw inside to kill Tenko… Even the memories of the night before that, hearing him arguing with what I now knew was his sister. Or what he claimed was his sister.

As I looked at the cage, I had to wonder… was Kokichi right? Had Korekiyo really excluded me to deliberately save my life?

Just so he could kill someone else… Just so he could add to all the pain we were already feeling… I couldn’t miss him. I had to hate him. I did hate him. The more I thought about it, I did hate him. He’d said himself he had spent his time evaluating all the girls to pick out his targets. He was a monster. He was a monster and I wouldn’t miss him.

I reached into the case and pulled out the katana. The sheath was sticky and I could feel the gold clinging to my hands as I drew it out. I stared at the old blade, holding it out to see how it felt. Wondering how it felt when he…

I swung the blade into the glass case as hard as I could, watching it shatter. “F- Fuck your stupid relics!” I swung it at the case containing the document on the Caged Child Seance. “Fuck your stupid a- anthropology!” With a cry I began swinging at anything I could break, not caring about the shattered glass everywhere. “Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! I hate you! I hate you!” I was screaming until my throat felt raw, dropping the blade so I could knock items over and stomp on them. Everything he obsessed over, I wanted to destroy. I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to piss him off. If he could see me, I wanted to make him suffer. I wanted him to watch me destroy everything he loved.

I picked up the document from the floor and began tearing out the pages, ripping them into as many pieces as I could. “I h- hope you’re burning! I hope you’re still burning! I hope it never stops! I hate you!”

I stopped, shaking and looking around at all the destruction. If Korekiyo were still alive to see it, there was no doubt he would have killed me. Or torn out my nerves like he’d threatened to do to Kokichi. I shuddered. I should have taken that threat much more seriously. 

I walked to the wall where I’d found the whip and picked it up, turning it over in my hands and looking at the stained strands.

_ Apologize… Apologize... _

My body was shaking even harder and I let out a sob. Or a scream. I couldn’t tell anymore. 

_ Apologize… Apologize... _

I didn’t know what I was doing or why I was doing it. I tugged off my shirt and braced one hand on the wall. Then, throwing my arm back as hard as I could, I cracked the whip across my back.

The wind was knocked out of me. I couldn’t even gasp. It felt like lines of fire suddenly burst across my back.

_ Apologize… Apologize… _

I screamed and cracked the whip again. And again. And again. And-

“What are you doing?!”

Footsteps were running to me and someone was grabbing my wrist, tugging the whip out of my hand. “Stop it! Stop! What the hell is wrong with you?!” Kokichi was screaming at me and I could hear the whip getting thrown into a pile of glass. Then he was in front of me, grabbing me by the arms so hard it hurt. His eyes were filled with rage and he shook me hard like he was trying to shake some sense into me. “Stop it! You’re not doing this! Knock it off, Eden!” 

My legs gave out and I dropped to the floor, sobbing and hiding my face. Kokichi remained standing, looking down on me with his hands still balled into fists. “Sh- Shit!” he snarled, then lowered himself, grabbing me by the chin. “Look at me, Eden! Look at me!”

I lowered my hands and looked at him, weeping too much to talk. “You can’t fall apart! You can’t go crazy! Don’t let him do that to you! Y- You aren’t allowed to do this! You get it?!” His voice wavered and he looked like he was on the verge of tears. “He’s dead! Okay? He’s dead! He did it to himself! So… st- stop being an idiot and stop punishing yourself! Throw his ashes in the garbage if you have to, but stop it! You’re not falling apart! You’re not gonna do this!”

He stared at me hard, looking like he wanted to shake me again and scream at me some more. But instead, his features slowly softened and he pulled me into his arms, hugging me even though it set my back on fire and likely got blood all over his white sleeves. 

“I h- hate him!” I sobbed. “I hate him s- so much! I hate that I tr- trusted him! I… I…”

“Stop!” he hissed, grabbing my face and holding it in his hands. “Listen to me. Really listen.” I bit down on my lip to stop any more sounds from slipping out. “You have to find a way to stomp this down. There’s still a killing game happening and if you don’t snap out of it, you could be next. So you can’t be weak. Shove it down somehow. Do whatever you have to, but stop it. Stop doing this to yourself. You’ve tortured yourself enough and it didn’t help anything.”

I couldn’t say anything. Everything I wanted to say I knew would be wrong. I wanted to tell him I didn’t care if I was next. I wanted to tell him I was ready to give up. But even I knew that was stupid. Admitting I wanted to die because of what one monster did. That was dumb. That gave him too much power. I knew that. 

But… somewhere inside I knew, it was more than just this. It was everything. Being trapped. Being betrayed by the people around us. Treating body after body as Monokuma continued to find ways to manipulate us into killing each other. The betrayal hit so much closer this time and for the first time I began to feel we really were all going to die. That the killing game couldn’t be stopped and it would just keep happening.

No one was coming to save us and we couldn’t even count on each other anymore. And that was the worst feeling in the world. The feeling of despair.

Kokichi sighed and slowly let me go. “Come on,” he said, standing up and handing me my shirt. “Get up. Let’s clean you up before you get infected. Idiot.” 

I stood up, feeling pathetic, and flinched as I painfully put my shirt back on. Just as I suspected, his sleeves were stained with my blood and I felt like an idiot. He held his hand out to me and I took it, walking slowly back with him to the dorms. “Get your clothes off,” he said while heading into my bathroom once we had reached my dorm. I heard him start the shower and I just stood still, watching him. 

“Wh- What are you doing?” I asked, still shaking like a leaf. The way he was acting felt nothing like his usual self. He was always immature and making jokes about everything, no matter how disgusting. But not right now. Right now, he looked like I’d truly pissed him off. Then again, his serious side seemed to appear around me more frequently lately.

“I told you already. I'm cleaning you up. Now come on.”

I looked around. “Y- You want me naked?”

He sighed. “Can you even reach your back? Now come on.” 

There was no arguing with him, so I stripped, covering myself with my hands as I shuffled into the shower. Kokichi stripped down too but only to his underwear and I averted my eyes, trying to at least show a little respect. He stepped inside, grabbed the detachable showerhead, and I heard him sigh behind me. “Take a deep breath. This is gonna hurt.”

When the water came and I cried out, covering my mouth to keep from screaming. It hurt. Oh god it hurt! I could see the water at my feet turning red and I started feeling dizzy. Kokichi’s hand caught my arm. “Whoa… Okay. Sit down. You’re looking like you’re gonna pass out on me.” The hand holding on to my arm was keeping me steady as I sank down, sitting on the floor of the shower and curling up to hold my legs to my chest. A moment later, he began to rinse me off again and I sobbed in pain, doing my best not to make too much noise. 

Despite how pissed off he had sounded initially, Kokichi was being surprisingly gentle. Occasionally he would pull the water away to give me a break to breathe before starting again. During those moments, he would rest his hand on my shoulder and murmur that I was doing good and to keep holding on. When the water began to rinse away less red, he finally shut it off and I shuddered with a sigh of relief.

“Okay… Okay…” he said, looking me over. “Stay there.” I heard him getting out of the shower and fishing around in the medicine cabinet. When he returned, he had a tube of antiseptic in his hands. “Don’t have anything better… sorry. Probably need stitches but I don’t know how to do that.” He started to rub it over the wounds and I bit down on my hand, whimpering in pain until he was finished. Then he handed me a roll of gauze and bandaging to go over it. “I… don’t know what else to use. But your shirt’s gonna stick to your back if you don’t cover them up.” 

I sniffled and nodded my head. “Th- Thank you.”

He helped me wrap myself, covering the whip lines as gently as possible, then wrapping around the bandage to hopefully keep the gauze in place. Neither of us knew what else to do, so we did the best we could with what we had. “Don’t wrap it too tight or you’re gonna suffocate.” 

“W- Won’t.” 

When we were done, I got up slowly and finally faced him, wiping my eyes and trying to get my breathing back down. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I don’t know why I did that.”

That was when I noticed the tear trails running down his cheeks. How long had he been crying? He took my face in his hands and pressed his forehead to mine. “You… can’t go crazy. You gotta get stronger. Don’t do that again. Don’t. J- Just… don’t.” He swallowed over the lump in his throat and I wrapped my arms around him. “I c- can’t lose you,” he whimpered and it hit all the way to my heart.

“You won’t,” I answered weakly. “I promise. You won’t.” I took a shaky breath and pulled my face back holding his in my hands this time. “We’re g- gonna get out of h- here together. I promise. We’re gonna get out of here. You won’t lose me.”

He sniffled and nodded his head, hugging me again. It made my back hurt like hell but I didn’t say anything. After a moment, he whispered, “I’m staying in here tonight.”

“I probably won’t be able to sleep,” I warned him.

“Don’t care.”

* * *

Much to my surprise, I did fall asleep. Not only did I fall asleep, but I overslept. It was nearly noon when I was finally up and getting ready. Kokichi was already gone but I was glad he’d let me sleep in, and when I headed to the dining hall to find something to eat, I was surprised to find everyone else gathered, looking more agitated than normal. Something must’ve happened.

“Eden,” Kaito called, flagging me down. “Did you see Kokichi this morning?”

I looked at their irritated expressions again and sighed. Oh no… what did he do this time?

“Not since last night,” I answered. “Why? What happened?”

There came sighs of annoyance as they all looked at each other, trying to decide on what to do now. “We got our new motive, but he snatched it up and ran off before any of us could stop him,” Maki explained. “We were hoping you knew where he was.”

I shook my head. “I only just got up. I have no idea where he is.”

“Yeah well that’s not all,” Kaito continued. “Someone trashed Kiyo’s lab last night. It looks like it got hit by a hurricane.”

I hugged myself and hung my head, feeling my back prickle in pain. “That was me,” I confessed. “I couldn’t sleep and… just snapped.” To put it lightly.

Shuichi gave me a concerned look and Kaito exchanged looks with Maki. “I think you should take a break today,” the latter of the three finallysaid. “You’ve been dealing with a lot of bodies in a short amount of time, and last night was… bad.”

I shook my head. “I can’t just leave Tenko and Angie in their lockers… I o- owe them taking care of their bodies at least.”

Shuichi frowned. “Eden… it’s not your fault.”

“I knew something was wrong with him,” I cut in. “I knew he was unstable. I knew something was wrong. And I said nothing. And now Tenko and Angie are dead.” My nails were digging into my arms until I was sure I could feel the skin start to break. It felt like little by little my sanity was slipping away and the urge to somehow hurt myself continued to replace it. “It doesn’t matter what anyone says. I should have said something. We all would have kept a closer eye on him if I had. That’s the truth so please… don’t try to make me feel better.”

Kaito opened his mouth, ready to argue, but for some reason stopped and shut it again, looking down at the ground with a weary expression. Even he seemed to agree with me.

“Himiko.” I turned to face the mage and look away from the others. “I’m going to be taking care of them today and I wanted to ask what you’d like for them.” It only felt right. She was close to both of them and they had meant so much to her.

Her eyes saddened and she avoided my gaze, afraid of crying again like she had the night before. “I… I don’t wanna leave them here. Don’t want them to be buried here. So… could they be cremated? I want to take the ashes with me when we finally escape. So I can set them free.”

I had to swallow over the lump in my throat and nodded my head. “O- Of course,” I answered. “Think that’s a b- beautiful idea.” It really was. I couldn’t think of anything more perfect for the two of them, considering our circumstances. 

“And… I wanna hold off on a funeral for now. I wanna do that when we set them free.”

I nodded my head again with a sniffle. “Okay. I can do that.”

* * *

Kokichi never turned up at the dining hall, and after waiting a while just in case, I gave up and headed to my lab, knowing I had work to do. Korekiyo’s remains needed to be ground up, but what I would do with them after that, I wasn’t sure. I was trying to push him as far from my emotions as possible. He was just a pile of remains. That’s it. I wouldn’t think about more than that for now.

Then, I put Angie’s body into the oven and started it. It would be a few hours before it would be time to pull her out and put in Tenko, so I decided to go back to my dorm so I could be alone. My thoughts were still a frayed mess and I didn’t want to talk to anyone. 

I couldn’t sleep or read. My head was being too loud, wanting to jump back and forth between guilt and paranoia. While I’d known it to some degree before the last trial, the reality that we were all being pushed and manipulated in some way to keep betraying each other was setting in. Granted of all the people I could have grown close to, Korekiyo was arguably one of the shadiest. There had been warning signs that he was dangerous but I’d written off a lot of his personality as quirks, not red flags. 

And the thought that my other closest friend in that place was Kokichi practically screamed I was just asking for it. He was a pathological liar and kept referring to the killing game as if it were fun. Sure, there were plenty of times when the mask would slip and I could see for myself that he hated the game as much as the rest of us, but that could have been a lie. Kaede and Kirumi had both been so trustworthy in the beginning and even they were pushed to commit murder. So it didn’t seem to matter whether it was someone trustworthy or shady, everyone could take the bait Monokuma offered at any time and kill one of us. 

I didn’t want to be alone, now more than ever. But my will to put my trust in anyone was all but spent, and my will to be close to anyone was crumbling away with my sanity. Whoever had orchestrated this was enjoying every second of it, and that thought made me angry. We were all suffering. We were all reaching our breaking points. Some were holding on to hope better than others, but we were all suffering and for someone’s entertainment. Whoever was controlling Monokuma, I wanted to force them to suffer every execution the others had been through. I wanted them to feel our pain. But that was likely impossible.

My arms were starting to hurt and my mind went back to how hard I’d been digging my nails into them in the dining hall. Standing up, I crossed my way over to the mirror and pulled my shirt off to take a look. What I saw in my reflection made me sick. I’d lost weight. A lot of weight. I was never heavy to begin with but how little I’d been eating due to all the stress was showing. Crescent-shaped nail marks were cut into my arms, confirming that I had broken the skin, and the bandaging around me only reminded me of what I’d done to my back. I’d never self-harmed before. I’d never felt compelled to do it. And this place had pulled that out of me. I’d also never been scared of the idea of handling any sort of body in my work. But now I was starting to dread every day that there would be another, hating the idea of handling even one more. It was the first time I’d ever been made to hate my talent. Looking in the mirror, it looked like this place was literally draining me of everything I had.

The door suddenly opened and I swore, grabbing my shirt and tugging it on as fast as my sore back would allow. “Shit! Can’t you knock?” I snapped, already knowing it was Kokichi. There was no one else it would be.

“I’ve already seen it,” he said dismissively with a wave before hopping onto my bed. 

After straightening out my shirt, I turned around to face him. “So where were you? I already got started without you.”

He shrugged dismissively and lay back on the bed, tucking his arms behind his head to stare up at the ceiling. “I saw the oven going. Not at much hands-on work this time so don’t think I missed much.” 

I climbed onto the bed and sat down beside him. “Heard you took off with our motive. What was it?”

“Just a key card. I looked around but couldn’t find what it went to. Then I got bored so I’m taking a break.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I would think you out of everyone would spend an entire day looking for something like that. Like some fucked up treasure hunt.”

He smiled a little and let out a huff. “Yeah well someone decided to have a mental breakdown last night and kept me up. I’m tired.” 

I sighed and sank down on the bed until I was laying next to him, needing to stay on my side or my back would hurt too much. “Sorry,” I muttered. “I… haven’t been handling things well and didn’t wanna drag you down with me.” His head rolled to the side to look at me, then his arm unfolded from behind him, opening up to me.

“C’mere,” he murmured, exhaustion audible in his voice.

I hesitated. All my thoughts from just moments ago were still echoing in my head and for the first time I was thinking twice about accepting any contact he offered me. His eyes watched, his annoying perception seeming to pick up on my thoughts. Then again, my head had been so loud I wouldn’t be surprised if people could literally hear my thinking by now.

Even if there were red flags… I needed a friend. And he had been one this whole time. Even if I was scared, I needed to lean on someone. I was already proving how bad I was at handling everything we were going through on my own, and I’d promised him last night that he wouldn’t lose me. I needed a friend, and despite everything, he had been a friend. Letting go of that felt like it could be a fatal error now.

I shoved down my paranoia and gingerly scooted closer, resting my head on his chest and wrapping an arm around him while his own wrapped over my shoulders. He was silent, probably upset that I hesitated, and my fingers curled into his shirt. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I.. I’m so scared. I don’t know which way is up or down anymore. I feel so fucking lost and my head is… s- so loud…”

Fingers began to run back and forth through my hair, lightly rubbing at my scalp and it was oddly comforting. The silence was getting to me though and wanting to get him talking, I decided to take a page from his own book. “Tell me a story.” 

His fingers stopped and a confused, “Hm?” echoed through his chest.

“About your evil organization. I don’t care if it’s a lie. I wanna hear about it.”

The semi-massage on my scalp began again and I could somehow feel his smile. “Well… if I tell you my secrets, I’ll have to kill you.”

“You kill me and no one will be around to make you look pretty when you lose the trial,” I teased, fully aware of how fucked up our humor was becoming.

“Nee-heehee! You say that like you really think I’d lose. Will you ever have faith in me?” I lifted my head to give him a look and he giggled again, making me smile as I settled back down. “Hmm… What could I tell you? Weeeell… I could confess how my organization’s infiltrated pretty much everything. Banks. Corporations. That Togami Corporation? We totally have them by the short and curlies. No one knows it though.” I rolled my eyes, but even if he was lying it was at least a little entertaining. “Oh, and this one will hit home to you. We rigged the US election.” 

I lifted my head again and looked at him with a laugh. “Oh really? So we have you to thank for that? I thought it was supposed to be Russia?”

He chuckled. “Oh there was a collusion… But Russia’s just a red herring. It was totally me. And now that I’ve told you, I guess I have to kill you.” I laughed again, relieved to feel myself smiling for a moment, and shook my head. 

“You could… but if I spoke the truth that there not only _was_ a collusion but that it was orchestrated by a purple-haired high school boy with an addiction to soda and a long history of lying, I don’t think anyone would believe me.” Except for maybe Alex Jones, but I wasn’t about to explain who that was. 

“Hahaha… well… then I guess you’re safe.” I settled back down again, feeling a little better.

“Well, now I know I can’t trust you if you’re really that evil,” I teased. 

“That’s what you get for being friends with a liar,” he replied, stroking the top of my head. “I could tell you about our role in those mysterious crop circles as well…”

“Oh lord,” I chuckled. 


	8. Ashes to Ashes

Word reached us eventually that a flashback light had been found and we headed to the dining hall to meet up with everyone else. The last few had filled our minds of confusing images that had unsettled us more than answered our questions, and knowing Angie had destroyed the last one, I worried as to whether or not that meant we permanently had a piece missing. When Kokichi and I met up with everyone else, they immediately bombarded him with questions about the keycard he’d made off with. He gave them the same answer he had given me, but of course they doubted him. I wasn’t entirely sure myself if he was telling the truth, but I was too mentally exhausted to press him on it.

Kaito was the one to turn on the flashback light this time, and in a blinding light, our minds were filled with images of meteorites, protestors, being chased… Fragments of memories were locking in with other fragments we had already gained and by the end of it my head was pounding. I remembered the meteorites vividly. Watching them on TV in fear while everyone was talking about the end of the world... As we began talking, I realized we all had similar memories, and someone even mentioned the Gofer Project, one we all remembered failed but we couldn’t remember why.

“Maybe we’re already dead…” Kokichi had offered then, a wicked grin on his face. “Maybe we died and we just don’t know it. And now we’re all ghosts.”

“I’ve handled seven bodies,” I immediately responded, glaring at him. “We’re not already dead.”

“Y- Yeah! Don’t go making jokes like that!” Kaito snapped. After his blatant terror at the thought of ghosts during the third investigation, I could only imagine how badly he’d take it if he ever discovered he was a ghost. The thought almost made me laugh but this wasn’t the time for that.

“Who says I’m joking?” Kokichi asked. “Think about it. All the insane things we’ve seen and been through? Would you really say it’s impossible for a twist like that to exist?”

I rolled my eyes and let out a sigh. “I need to get back to work. Unless if there’s anything else?” I was addressing the rest of the room, not willing to entertain Kokichi’s attempts at trolling everyone. 

“Oh! Gonta remember!” Gonta spoke up. “Gonta uncovered the manhole. In case we decide to try that escape again…”

“Are you kidding me? No one’s dumb enough to attempt that again!” Kokichi cried. “We all got our asses beat enough times down there.”

Gonta frowned and let out a sigh. “Gonta know… Gonta just… wants to help somehow.”

“Yeah well, don’t stress about it because this gorgeous bitch has got a plan!” Miu announced. “Once I’m done with that computer upstairs, I’ll have the perfect escape for you assholes!”

“What are you talking about?” Maki asked in a doubtful tone.

“You’ll see when it’s all ready. But I got a lot of work to do so nobody fucking interrupt me! Ya got that?”

Sensing there was nothing more to be gained by staying, I took my leave, needing to finish up what I’d started in my lab. Korekiyo’s ashes were ground up and, not knowing what else to do with them, I collected them in an urn and set it aside. Maybe I’d follow Himiko’s example and release them when we escaped. If we escaped. I didn’t know and it honestly hurt too much to think about, so I stopped thinking about it and moved on to getting Angie’s remains out and Tenko’s body in.

Kokichi hadn’t joined me, but that wasn’t all that surprising. I had already explained to him the process and since it was less hands-on than preparing a body for a funeral and burial, he decided he’d be too bored with it. However, I knew it was possible he would drop by at some point to see what a cremation in progress looked like through the oven’s window. 

Once Tenko was inside and Angie’s remains were being ground up, I picked up the book I’d left in my lab, almost having completely forgotten it, and picked a spot to sit and read. 

It was nearly an hour before the timer was due to go off when the door to the lab opened and I glanced up as Kokichi wandered to the oven to take a look, just like I guessed he would. “Is that Tenko or Angie?” he asked.

“Tenko. I just got Angie’s remains in an urn a little while ago.” I pointed to the one in question and Kokichi’s eyes wandered to it, then to the second urn sitting farther away. He seemed to already know who was in that one and thankfully didn’t say anything. I couldn’t help noticing he was being unusually quiet and I wondered what was on his mind as he resumed looking into the oven.

“Eden? Do you… ever think about the people you left on the outside?”

That question came out of nowhere and I set my book down. “Of course I do. Don’t we all? Why are you asking?”

He turned around and walked over, hopping up to sit on the table I was sitting in front of. “You never talk about your family. Or friends. I wondered if you remember them or not.”

It hadn’t dawned on me before, but he was right. I’d spoken at great length about my work, but I honestly never brought up anything else about my life, and not intentionally either. “I mean… yeah, I remember them. We just aren’t close. I guess I’m used to being away from them.” He gave me an inquisitive look but the story really wasn’t interesting and I knew it was likely to disappoint him. “I’ve attended boarding schools most of my life. My mom’s a flight attendant so she’s away a lot, and my dad’s the CEO of a publishing company. I wasn’t planned but… like I said before, I grew up in the Bible Belt so getting an abortion was out of the question for Mom and they didn’t trust the system enough to put me up for adoption. So... I just kinda showed up. Just like that. They tried to be the perfect parents but they were too out of their element, so they sent me away to boarding school.”

Kokichi frowned. “They just pawned you off on someone else?” 

I never thought of it that way and shook my head. “I was sad in the beginning but… I guess I just reached a point where I understood that they were doing the best they could with the situation in front of them. Didn’t mean they didn’t love me. And I’d like to think it was because of boarding school that I discovered my talent.” I smiled a little as I spoke. “We took a field trip to a funeral home and I couldn’t stop asking so many questions. I was just so fascinated by the process, I wanted to know more. Everyone else was too creeped out but I wasn’t. When I was old enough to start working part-time as a custodian for them, I did it in a heartbeat. The woman who ran the place was so… so kind to me. Very motherly I guess I’d say. And she nurtured my want to know more. She was the one who actually started my training and encouraged me to pursue it.”

Kokichi sat quietly as he listened to me reminisce, and again, his quiet demeanor raised a few questions in the back of my head. “You must think about her a lot then… right?”

It was my turn to frown. “She died,” I answered. “Drunk driver. I was… devastated. I… I couldn’t even help prepare her for the funeral. It was too hard. And her body was…” I shuddered and took a deep breath. “It was bad. I almost abandoned mortuary science entirely. But then I got my letter from Hope’s Peak and the rest is history.” 

I didn’t have much else to say, so I sat quietly and watched Kokichi as his eyes wandered to the table, absent-mindedly tracing patterns on the surface with his fingertips. “Something going on with you?” I finally had to ask. 

He shook his head. “Just tired. Last night sucked.”

Guilt prickled in my chest and I sighed. “I’m sorry.” The timer on the oven went off and I got up to shut it down, fetching Tenko’s remains from inside. Kokichi sat silently as I got them into the grinder and turned it on, then I turned back to him, making a decision. “Let’s go back to my dorm. I’m exhausted too. Think we could use a nap.”

He didn’t argue and hopped off the table, taking my hand and walking with me back to the dorms.

* * *

The light coming in through the windows made me realize it was sunset when I woke, and I could feel the weight on my chest of Kokichi resting against me. He was so warm and relaxing it almost put me back to sleep, but I knew I would be up all night if I did that. Instead, much like he had with me, I started carding my fingers through his plumb hair. He let out something of a whimper in his sleep and wiggled closer, the arm around me wrapping a little tighter. Almost clingy. It made me smile and I continued to run my fingers through his hair until he finally began to stir and rub his eyes. 

“Mmf… What time is it?” he groaned.

“I dunno. Sun’s going down.” He shrugged and nuzzled himself in closer, almost falling asleep again, but I moved to rubbing his back which made him open his eyes again. 

“Do you still think about what you’ll do if we get outta here?” he mumbled sleepily.

Once again, he asked a question that surprised me. “Uh… Yeah. Mostly figure I’ll be in therapy for a while before I do anything though,” I joked. 

He didn’t laugh.

“What else?” he asked.

I was honestly surprised he wanted to know. “Finish school? Open my own funeral home… Don’t know what else beyond that.” I chuckled softly and stroked the top of his head. “Don’t got a secret organization to run or something fun like that.”

I thought that at least would draw out a smile, but it didn’t. Something was definitely up with him. He couldn’t just be tired, and I knew from personal experience that he went from sound asleep to wide awake and alert in an instant, so it couldn’t be that he was still just waking up. “What’s wrong?” I asked him.

It took him a while to answer me. “If… that memory we saw, the meteorites? If you found out they’d completely destroyed the outside world, what would you do?”

Jesus, that was a dark question. “That what you’re worried about? You think that memory was of the world getting destroyed?” I shook my head. “If it were destroyed, we wouldn’t be here. And before you say it, no we aren’t dead.”

“I know we aren’t,” he sighed. “I just said that to fuck with Kaito. But… just indulge me, ‘kay? If there was a fluke and we were somehow still alive while the outside world was destroyed… what would you do?”

I took a deep breath as I thought it over. “I’d be devastated. If we were all that was left? I’d probably just… give up on life entirely. I wouldn’t have kids because why would you want to bring a new life into a world like that? And there’s no way we’d be able to repopulate with just the 10 of us. I… I wouldn’t want to keep living.” I raised my head to look at him. “But that’s not gonna happen. The outside world is still there. We can see it through the glass outside. It’ll be there when we get out of here.”

He looked up at me and reached out, brushing some hair out of my face. “And what if we were never getting outta here? What if we just… stayed?” 

I shook my head. “I couldn’t do that. I don’t wanna stay trapped here forever. I’d go crazy. Wouldn’t you?”

He sighed and sat up. “Yeah… Kinda a dumb scenario to worry about.” He was trying to force a smile, but he couldn’t have been more transparent. I sat up and rested my hand on his shoulder.

“Kokichi… Are you afraid that’s what's gonna happen? That we’ll never get out of here? Or that there won’t be a world to go back to?”

“Phsh! I just said that’s dumb, didn’t I?” he fired back in a snarky tone.

“Then why were you asking? You looked really upset.”

He looked back at me, his normal grin back in place. “I’m a liar, duh! Jeez. Why do you gotta take everything so seriously?”

I frowned and shook my head. “Whatever. I gotta take care of Tenko’s ashes.” I turned my back to him as I scooted to the edge of the bed, but his voice stopped me.

“Yes.”

Any hint of mischief or glee was nowhere to be found in his tone and when I looked back at him, he was sitting hunched over like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. “Kokichi?”

He wouldn’t look at me. “I… am afraid. I’m afraid that… there is no future. For any of us. That we’ll die here. Whether it’s by the killing game or not. This place will be our tomb.”

This wasn’t the first time I waited for Kokichi to finish up a statement like that with the reveal that it was all a lie or he was just kidding… but he didn’t and I began to wonder if something had happened to him. I scooted until I was in front of him and took his face in my hands. “Hey. Remember what we said last night? We’re getting out of here. We’re gonna survive this and we’re going to escape.”

“Yeah well maybe there’s nothing to escape to!” he snapped, glaring at me.

“What are you talking about?” I cried. “You don’t really believe that. You’re just scared. You know that’s not true. You know it. We are getting out of here! We are! You and me and everyone else, we’re getting outta here!” He lowered his face but I forced him to look at me. “Y- You’re going to be the best damn leader of your evil organization and you’re going to wreak havoc all over the world. And I’ll be the mortician- no! I’ll study forensics and be the coroner who lies on the autopsy reports to help cover for your crimes! We’re gonna grab this world by the balls and m- make it our bitch!”

My words seemed to have an effect because he let out a huff… and then a chuckle, resting a hand on top of one of mine. “We promised we’re not giving up,” I murmured. “Don’t you dare tell me that was a lie.”

He looked me in the eyes, then took a deep breath and nodded his head. “We’re not giving up,” he echoed back. I smiled at him and rested my forehead against his.

“We’re gonna be okay,” I murmured. “We’re gonna get each other through this and out of here. You and me.”

His hand moved from mine and slipped behind my head, cradling it at the base, and even though he was smiling, there was still sadness in it. Whatever had triggered those seemingly sudden fears hadn’t left him fully yet, but everything was going to be okay. I had to believe that. I had to hold on to hope.

He leaned in a little closer and I leaned back, my eyes going wide when I realized what he was trying to do. He froze the second I started to pull away, and his smile was gone. “I’m not Kiyo.” His voice was firm but pleading, trying to reassure me to please believe him. “I’m not Kiyo,” he repeated.

He leaned in again, and this time I met him halfway.

It wasn’t frenzied or lustful. There was no force behind it as if he were trying to get me completely off guard. It was gentle and soft with a warmth and sadness behind it I didn’t fully understand. But somewhere along the way, Kokichi had managed to work his way into my heart, even if only a little. The pain from Korekiyo was still there and still very raw. And no matter how many times I repeated to myself that I hated the anthropologist… that was a lie. It still hurt, and I wished he was still there.

But Kokichi was there, with warm hands and arms wrapping around me in a gentle hold. And he’d been there for me. Bandaged me up, snapped at me when I needed it, stayed in my room when I was too scared to sleep alone. He was there. And I was going to see this through to the end with him. 

When the kiss finally ended, our foreheads were resting against each other again and his eyes were closed, almost as if he were saying a prayer.

“Y- You’d better go… take care of Tenko,” he whispered.

I didn’t want to leave. Part of it was because it was reminding me too much of what had happened with Korekiyo. How one moment he had me crying out in ecstasy one the floor, and then the next he treated me like I no longer existed, only to blindside me with what followed. A part of me was afraid that as soon as we parted ways, history would repeat itself the second I stepped out the door.

The other part of me wanted to hold on to this moment of serenity for just a little longer. 

As if he read my mind, Kokichi stroked my cheek and whispered, “I’ll be here when you get back.”

I sighed. “If that’s a lie, I swear to God…”

“I’m not Kiyo,” he pressed, cutting me off. “Go do what you have to. I’ll be here.”

I felt like I had no choice but to trust him, and I hoped it wouldn’t come back to bite me. I took a deep breath and nodded my head, slipping onto the floor and heading down to my lab.


	9. Liar

He lied.

Because of course he fucking did.

When I got back to my room, he was gone. I waited up, thinking that maybe he was just in his room changing into his pajamas. But after nearly an hour of waiting, I headed to his dorm trying the knob just in case. It wasn’t locked, which surprised me, but when I poked my head inside it was only to find he wasn’t there either. What  _ was _ in there was a clusterfuck of a mess, but no Kokichi.

I went back to my room to wait, listening for the sounds of the door to the dorms to open, or even his voice in case he was in another room, talking to someone. But eventually, I fell asleep and he never showed up.

I was a fucking idiot.

At breakfast that morning, I was unable to hide the frustration in my features which only grew by the second. He never turned up to the dining hall either and I didn’t wait around. Instead, I took Himiko to my lab to give her Tenko and Angie’s ashes while the dilemma of what to do with Korekiyo’s entered my mind again. My sour mood only made me want to actually throw them in the trash, but I decided against it and left my lab, wandering the premises aimlessly until lunch.

That was when Miu arrived to announce her project was finished and that we should all come to the computer room to see for ourselves. Conveniently, Kokichi did show up, not acknowledging me and choosing to stand nowhere near me. It felt like another stab to the chest and everything I’d been thinking and feeling was called into question. Had he really been lying to me this whole time? What did he stand to gain from it?

Miu told us to follow her and see her “amazing plan” but as we walked I couldn’t even try to get optimistic about it. I was fuming. Of course Kokichi lied. That’s what he did. He was a liar and I’d bought it. Even if it made no sense, maybe it didn’t need to? Maybe he just took great joy in lying for the sake of lying, and the bigger the lie, the bigger the enjoyment.

The possibility made me want to slap him again.

My thinking was irrational and I was jumping to conclusions. I knew that. There may well have been a reasonable explanation and everything I was assuming was all wrong. But my emotions were drained enough already and my mental state had been deteriorating the last few days. It honestly didn’t take much anymore to make me doubt and question everything, let alone become angry enough to imagine lashing out.

And that just made me angrier. My head was growing more fucked by the day and I felt like I couldn’t stop it.

We arrived at the computer lab, finding there were chairs set up in a circle, each facing a small table with a headset sitting on top. I recognized the setup immediately. VR. That was what she meant by escaping? I shouldn’t have expected any less of her, but at the same time I could hardly blame her. At this rate, we were all becoming desperate and a half-assed solution like this was hardly outside of the realm of possibility. 

We listened to Miu explain some of it to us and when it came time to take our seats, I deliberately chose one as far away from Kokichi as I could before we entered the digital world of makebelieve.

And everything went wrong.

It began with Kokichi taking off with Gonta out of nowhere, causing a few glances in my direction. I should have known they would catch on pretty quick that something was up, but I was glad when no one asked. Instead, Tsumugi and Shuichi let me stick with them, likely out of pity but that didn’t matter. They were both kind enough and it wasn’t like I couldn’t stand to spend some more time with other people for a change. After feeling like I’d been deceived yet again, it was probably exactly what I needed to stop the self-destructive train I was on lately.

Even so… was I being too quick to judge? Maybe nothing was wrong. Maybe Kokichi not showing up had been an honest mistake. Maybe he’d had other things he needed to do and then got too caught up in them to think to let me know he wouldn’t be coming back for the night. Maybe there was a reasonable explanation for all of this.

Or maybe he was just being a liar again.

My head was hurting from thinking about my thinking so much that I was almost grateful for the sudden crash that grabbed our attention.

What followed was a blur of confusion. Miu’s avatar had stopped moving and Kaito’s was outright missing. We agreed it was time to check the real world and see what was going on and I assumed it was probably just a computer bug. The machine was god knows how old, it wouldn’t surprise me. Or maybe Monokuma was out there fucking with us.

While the others gathered by the phone to one by one log out, I stayed behind on purpose until it was just me and Kokichi. He stared me down for a moment before gesturing to the phone. “Go ahead.”

I shook my head. “What happened last night? Where were you?” Maybe this wasn’t the time for it but I couldn’t stop myself from asking.

“Hmm? Last night?” He tapped his chin as if he really couldn’t remember what I was talking about, then gave a sound of realization and began to laugh. “Wait… you actually waited for me? You really thought I was gonna be there?”

My brain was screaming.

“It’s because I kissed you, right? Maaan! You really are gullible. Nee-heehee!”

I wanted to punch him. I wanted to punch him so bad. “Fuck you!” I spat and grabbed the phone to log off.

What waited on the other side was a horrible discovery. Miu was dead.

* * *

The investigation was a clusterfuck to say the least. The clues felt few and far between, and the more things that came up, the less I understood. I trusted it would come together in the class trial, but unlike last time, I had absolutely no clue or suspicion as to who did it. No one had been acting like they might have it in for Miu, and no one had been behaving suspiciously.

The trial began and we spent time discussing the layout of the virtual world, finding the points where Miu had deliberately mislead us, bringing up the layout of the map and how Miu’s avatar could walk through invisible walls while ours could not. Then we discussed the changes made to the program, including the way it had been rigged so that Kokichi would become immobile if Miu touched him, making us realize she’d been planning to kill him. And naturally, that turned our suspicions on to him.

It felt like deja vu. Like an endless nightmare that refused to stop. No. No this couldn’t be happening again. It couldn’t be.

I looked at him, trying to read his gaze, but he was completely unreadable, even the few times he looked back at me. The feeling that came over me at Korekiyo’s trial was sinking in again and I began to brace myself for it. Kokichi was going to be the blackened. He was going to die. I was going to have him on my slab in God knows what condition… 

It was happening again.

But no amount of mental preparation could have readied me for the words that came out of his mouth.

“The killer is Gonta.”

My heart stopped and I stared at him, feeling frozen in my own body. No. No, that had to be a lie. That was a lie. A terrible lie that no one would believe, but it was a lie. It had to be a lie.

The room was suddenly filled with people shouting at each other, arguing that there was no way this was true. Kokichi was screaming at Gonta to at least try to defend himself while Gonta sobbed that he had no idea what was going on. I stood in silent horror the whole time, waiting for it to be a lie. But no matter how much we shouted and argued with each other, the facts mercilessly unfolded.

Gonta was the killer. And Kokichi had manipulated him into doing it.

My heart shattered. Kokichi was smiling the whole time as he recounted the details to us, almost bragging about how he did it as if he was proud of it. And no matter how much I wanted to scream at him to stop, I couldn’t get my mouth to move. I was paralyzed. 

The trial finally wound down to a painful end and there was no doubt left. Gonta was the killer. He was going to be executed and none of us could save him. My body was shaking and I could barely breathe. Kokichi had done this?! Why?! I knew an explanation was likely to come as we stepped off our podiums, but I wanted to cover my ears. If Kokichi was going to brag again, I didn’t want to hear it. I wouldn’t be able to take it.

I was so stupid. So fucking stupid. I’d let him into my heart and he was just as bad as Korekiyo. 

No. He was worse. Korekiyo never manipulated anyone into doing his dirty work. Kokichi did. And now Gonta was going to lose his life because of it. If ever there was someone who didn’t deserve this fate, it was Gonta. He had been so kind to all of us, wanting so badly to be able to help us escape. Even as Monokuma revealed that Kokichi had played a role in showing Gonta what was supposedly the horrible truth about the outside and how that somehow convinced Gonta that getting us all killed was the right thing to do, I wept for him.

In fact, as soon as I was able, I ran to the gentle giant, hugging him as tight as I could. Others joined, all of us wanting to take this fate away from him. We wept together, our grief so thick it could be cut with a knife.

“E- Everyone… please forgive him.”

Kokichi’s voice was somehow audible despite all of our collective sobbing, and we turned our heads to see him standing alone, tears flowing down his cheeks and a rare glimpse of true regret in his features. My mind went back to our conversation from the night before and it finally clicked. He hadn’t tricked or lied to Gonta about the outside world just to try to get someone killed. He truly believed what he’d said the night before.That there was no more outside world for us to return to. Even before Gonta’s avatar described it as a literal Hell, I began to understand why this had happened. It really was an attempt at a mercy killing.

“Gonta tried to save us all from despair by taking on the sin of killing us,” he continued, barely able to look at us. “But… you reached for the truth. And Gonta’s plan failed. All of you could have been saved if you died without knowing anything.”

Shuichi snapped. “So you’re saying it was wrong to fight for the truth?!”

“Yes. It was,” Kokichi answered, straightening up a little. “At least Gonta and I think so.” 

I didn’t know what to think. All of it was fucking with my head even worse than the last trial and every conflicting emotion was so extreme I felt like my brain was going to explode. 

“You should have all died ignorant.” His tone was growing more defensive. “Gonta even killed Miu for that sake, y’know…”

It was my turn to snap. “Don’t you  _ dare _ blame us for what you did!” Kokichi looked at me, his face completely blank. For a moment, I could have sworn he looked like he wanted to say something to me, but he never did.

Gonta dissolved into sobs, apologizing again and again for what he did, which only made me start to cry even harder. This was sick. It was unfair. I wanted to scream and strangle Kokichi. I wanted to smash Monokuma with a cinder block. Rage and hatred was poisoning my thoughts and sorrow was destroying my sanity. This couldn’t be happening. It was so wrong.

“You’re all probably thinking I should’ve taken the dirty work and not Gonta, right?” Kokichi spoke up. He was trembling and for the first time, he looked utterly broken. I just wished I could believe it. “Everyone… hates me… So the role of the villain is perfect for me, right?” 

I hid my face in my hands and let out a sob. He was right. In that moment I couldn’t imagine being able to hate him more. Gonta was going to die because of him. He’d picked out the most vulnerable out of all of us and used him. I didn’t care about his reasoning. It was downright evil. 

“Y- Yeah! I know already!” he cried out, his voice breaking. “It should’ve been my responsibility! But… when I realized Miu was targeting me… I thought to myself… she must already have a way to prevent me from fighting back in the virtual world.” His instincts had been right. We’d all seen how she’d altered the program. “That’s why I had to ask Gonta! I would’ve done it myself if I could!”

“You didn’t need to kill anyone!” I sobbed at him. “Why did you have to rope someone else into doing it?! Why did you have to kill anyone at all?! Even if the world outside really is Hell, don’t you think we have the right to decide whether or not we want to face that?! Fuck, you might not even be telling the truth!”

“Please, stop!” Gonta bawled. “Everyone… Please… Don’t blame Kokichi anymore. Please…”

Kokichi looked at him, weeping as the entomologist pleaded on his behalf in spite of everything. “G- Gonta… You…!”

“Are we done yet?” Monokuma’s heartless tone sent dread through all of us.

No. No, this wasn’t happening. It wasn’t going to happen. It couldn’t happen. This wasn’t real. This had to be a nightmare. Just a nightmare. Gonta was not going to be executed!

“You guys are starting to talk in circles, so let’s get to the exciting stuff! The eagerly anticipated punishment time!”

“No!” I wailed. “No! Please! N- Not him!”

“Wait!” Kokichi shouted. “If you’re gonna punish him, then please! Punish me too!”

My heart stopped. Losing Gonta was horrible enough. Losing Kokichi too? My mind pictured three bodies in my lab all at once, just like the end of the last trial, and I couldn’t breathe. Kokichi had done a horrible thing and knowing we were about to watch Gonta die what would likely be a painful death filled me with more hatred than I ever thought I could feel for anyone. But the thought of having to watch Kokichi go through it too made me sick. No matter how much I hated him, even then I wasn’t ready to see that.

“...Kokichi?” Shuichi gasped in disbelief.

“I’m prepared for it!” the trickster pleaded. “If you’re gonna execute Gonta, then I-”

“It’s okay, Kokichi,” Gonta’s avatar interrupted. “Please. Let Gonta sacrifice himself… for everyone’s sake.”

The real Gonta nodded his head through tears. “Just… please promise Gonta that everyone forgive each other and remain friends.”

Forgive? Was that even possible anymore?

“...Alright,” Kokichi answered. “I promise.” He turned his eyes to me, silently begging with me, but I looked away. That was a promise I doubted I could make, even if it was Gonta’s last wish.

“Now then!” Monokuma’s shrill voice cut in. “I’ve prepared a very special punishment!”

“No!” I cried out. “No! Please, no! N- Not Gonta!”

Kokichi let out a sob and wailed, “W- Wait! Please! I don’t want this! Don’t go, Gonta!”

“IIIIIIIT’S PUNISHMENT TIIIIIIME!”

Gonta took a deep breath, determined to face it like a brave gentleman, and I felt myself crying so hard my whole body hurt. “Gonta… love you all,” he finally said. And then he was taken away.

We watched the screen in horror as he was tied to a post, stung thousands of times by hornets, impaled by a giant praying mantis, and then set on fire. It was beyond overkill and I collapsed, feeling Himiko and Tsumugi drop beside me, resting their hands on my shoulders. I held on to them as well and we clung to each other, crying out in anguish over our loss. It wasn’t fair. Gonta never deserved this. He deserved so much better. He was the sweetest person out of all of us and all he wanted was to help and protect us. He didn’t deserve this.

We all wept, harder than we had at the last trial. I held on to Tsumugi and Himiko while Shuichi stood off to the side, his head hanging low and looking as if he wished he hadn’t helped uncover the truth. I honestly couldn’t blame him. The truth was hard enough to take in, but having to be the one to uncover it… I couldn’t imagine that burden. 

Maki was the first one able to speak and her words were directed at Kokichi. “So what was the secret of the outside world? If we don’t know it, we won’t be able to understand or accept it.”

“Wh- What kind of secret would push Gonta so far?” Tsumugi demanded as she brushed away her tears.

Kokichi stood silent, his head hanging low as if he was lost in his guilt. I stared at him, feeling so lost. I hated what he’d done. I hated how confused he made me feel. What was the truth and what were the lies in our time together? I didn’t know. And not knowing made it agonizing to try to figure him out in that moment. All I could hope was that the guilt and shame I saw on his face was real. Otherwise there was no hope for him.

Kaito’s temper was beginning to flare up. “Kokichi… If you really cared for Gonta, explain yourself to everyone and-”

“I don’t… want to…”

Shuichi looked up at him, his eyes starting to darken. “You what?”

Kokichi stood silent, but I saw the corners of his mouth begin to turn upwards and I thought I would scream. He raised his head with a wide smile, looking absolutely thrilled with himself, and let out a laugh. “I don’t want to, stupidhead!” he declared at Kaito.

My jaw dropped and he began laughing, acting like he had pulled the ultimate prank and our pain was the punchline. “Ah-hahahaha! Oh man! Did you really fall for all that fake crying?! You’re so dumb! I would never cry for Gonta!”

I was shaking. “Wh- What?!”

“If I had told the truth back there, Gonta woulda been reeeeally mad!”

Another fucking lie?! 

“I just told him that lie to calm him down!” he continued. “And now the game isn’t boring anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Shuichi asked, his eyes reflecting the same shock I was sure all of us felt.

“C’mon. Think about it,” Kokichi explained, his eyes narrowing as his grin spread. “If I really wanted to save everyone, like Gonta did… I would never have betrayed Gonta. You should’ve realized that.”

He was toying with us?! Our suffering was all just his entertainment?!

So everything… every moment we connected… every time I thought he’d let the mask slip enough to let me see the real him… it was all just a game? It was fake?

“Then why did you do that to Gonta?!” Tsumugi shouted, anger beginning to show in her eyes just as it was with everyone else.

“Who cares about that idiot?!” Kokichi mocked. “I wanna enjoy this game filled with suspicion and betrayal from the bottom of my heart!” At the word ‘betrayal,’ he deliberately looked at me. “I  _ am _ the supreme leader of evil, so it’s obvious my personality would be twisted. The more you suffer… the more I enjoy it. There are people in this world who spread misery and grief for no other reason than the thrill of it! And I’m one of those people. Nothing pleases me more than inflicting pain on others!”

I jumped to my feet, repeating a pattern of snapping with my emotions and acting without thinking. I lunged at him, aiming for that disgusting smile on his face… But he was suddenly out of my way and a blow to the side of my face sent me toppling to the ground. 

“Seriously? Is that all you can do? Hit people?”

I looked up at him slowly, my head throbbing in pain. He had gotten me surprisingly hard and I could already feel my eye swelling shut. “Wh- Why?” I sobbed. It was all I could do. “Why?! Why you?! Why d- did you-”

“Why why why why…” he taunted in a whiny voice. “The real question is how are you so dumb you didn’t learn your lesson the last time? Didn’t you stop and take a look at who you fell in love with?” I wanted to get back on my feet to try again. I started to work my way to my knees, but a sharp kick slammed into my shoulder and I fell over with a sob.

“That’s enough!” Kaito roared, taking his turn to charge at him, but there came the sound of another punch, and Kaito was on the ground, coughing and clutching his stomach. 

People began to circle around both of us, reaching out to help support us to our feet. I turned my head, wanting to spit in Kokichi’s face… but he was already gone.

* * *

I didn’t leave my room. I knew there were two bodies waiting in my lab, but I didn’t care. I kept my door locked and the curtains shut. Any time there was a knock, no matter who it was, I refused to answer it. At one point, all of them were there, knocking and begging with me to come out. Something about a way to escape through the tunnel again… but I didn’t open the door.

“Let us in or we’re gonna have Kokichi pick the lock!” Kaito called in to me. So he was working with them again? “Eden!”

There was a long pause and finally I heard a sigh, followed by Kokichi’s voice. “Guys… let’s just leave her alone. Let’s just get the tunnels cleared out for now.”

“But this could be our only chance,” Shuichi argued. “If she doesn’t come with us, Monokuma could stop any of us from coming back for her.”

“I’ll be the one who comes back for her,” he replied. “If it all goes to shit, I’ll be the one stuck behind, not you. Now come on, we gotta move.” 

Why were they going along with him? It was going to be another lie. I knew it would. There was no way he actually had a plan that would work. Maybe they were willing to hope that he was going to tell the truth and help us, but I was done putting my trust in him. Or any of them. The trial had finally been my breaking point. I didn’t care anymore. They were stronger than me and willing to keep fighting and that was great for them. But I was done. The only thing that was stopping me from killing myself was the fear that Monokuma or Kokichi would somehow hide the fact that it was a suicide and put all of their lives at risk.

If I had to stay alive, I wasn’t leaving my room. I just wanted to sleep. So that’s what I did.

I didn’t know what happened after that, but when I eventually woke to the sounds of their return, I could only assume either they had failed, or Kokichi had been lying again. Someone came to my door and knocked, but I didn’t move from the bed.

“Eden, it’s Maki. We need to talk.”

I didn’t answer.

“Please, Eden. It’s important. You need to know what’s going on.”

I still didn’t answer.

“Eden… we saw it.”

That wasn’t what I was expecting.

I sat up slowly and got to my feet, shuffling over to open the door. Maki looked me over and sighed. “You look like hell.” I stepped aside to let her in and she only entered a few feet before opting to remain standing before talking again. And that was when she filled me in about the truth of the outside world. 

At first, I didn’t believe her. Kokichi couldn’t have been right. He couldn’t have been telling the truth. He'd even said at the trial he'd made it up to trick Gonta. But then she gave me a photo that Keebo had managed to take before they’d returned and I saw it with my own eyes. The world fell out from underneath me and before I could collapse, Maki had a hold on me and walked me over to the bed to sit down. There were tears in her eyes and she waited until I was ready before continuing.

She told me about the Gofer Project, how it had been sabotaged by an organization and that Kokichi was behind it. Worse than that, the mastermind of this killing game… was Kokichi.

At first, I sat frozen, everything racing and jumbling through my mind in a loud mess that made no sense. Kokichi… was the mastermind? But… how? That didn’t make sense! None of this made sense! He was a horrible person, but the mastermind?! That couldn’t be right. That had to be a lie. Kokichi couldn’t seriously be the one who had put all of us through this. The reason I’d had to deal with seven bodies since we arrived and still had two more that I hadn’t even touched yet. 

And he’d  _ helped _ me prepare them for burial… Like he wanted to be able to play with them one more time…

“Eden,” Maki whispered. “I… I’m so sorry.”

I stared blankly at the wall, my heart pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears, and the second I felt like I could breathe again, I let out all my rage, hatred and pain in the loudest scream I could muster, not caring who heard me.


	10. Project Veritas

There was hardly any movement to be heard over the next 24 hours. Everyone seemed to have felt the same way as I did and the will to get out of bed was gone. Maybe this was how we were all going to die. Wasting away without any hope or desire to survive.

But by the next morning, news of another flashback light reached us and there came attempts to draw me out of my room. I’d stopped answering them and waited instead for them to just give up and leave. Eventually, they did, but whatever was in that new memory had sparked them into action again and my peace was short lived. I heard all sorts of movement throughout the dorms, some bits of conversation about a plan to fight back against Kokichi, and more than once they tried yet again to get me to come out. But I wouldn’t answer them. I just wanted to sleep.

It wasn’t until one of them finally told me that Kokichi had Kaito that I was motivated to get to my feet. It was one thing to give up on saving myself. But I couldn’t justify doing nothing if it was someone else that needed help. I walked to the door and opened it, letting them in and listening as they filled me in on the plan. They showed me the electric sledgehammers that Miu had made before she died as well as the grenades, explaining how they all worked. The plan was to move in by morning as several of the items needed to be recharged, and ambush the trickster. That would give me time to eat something and clean up. But more than that, it gave me time to even prepare myself for killing Kokichi myself if I needed to.

God I hoped I didn’t need to. I hated what he’d done to Gonta and to all of us. I would never forgive him. But I didn’t want to kill him. If I had to, I would. I knew I had to accept that. But I hoped I wouldn’t be the one who would have to do it.

Morning came and I was up early, showered, dressed, fed… as ready as I could be for facing this. The swelling in my eye was gone but there was still an ugly bruise that was tender to the touch. I pressed it every time I needed a painful reminder that Kokichi was beyond saving. It didn’t matter. I was going to do what they needed me to, and then… I didn’t know. I just wanted to help them free Kaito. I didn’t care about whatever followed. I still had no hope for myself let alone the desire to keep fighting for myself after this. But at least I could do the right thing one more time.

We made our way to the hangar, prepared to battle our way through exisals and Monokuma… but it was unnervingly quiet. No one was making any attempts to stop us and that sent my anxiety into overdrive. There was no way this was really going to go so smoothly. Something was going to happen. I just knew it. Kokichi had some cruel trick up his sleeve somewhere. He had to.

When we got the door open and headed inside, all our eyes were immediately drawn to the giant puddle of blood surrounding the hydraulic press. And the familiar purple coat sleeve hanging out from it as well.

My stomach flipped and I doubled over, throwing up on the floor of the hangar. I’d been mentally ready for a fight, but not this. Not another investigation. Not another death.

It looked like this one would at least be easy, even as we headed down to the class trial. The fact that we were still doing these at this point, especially with a case so obvious didn’t make any sense. There was little doubt as to how this murder had played out. 

Or at least there had been little doubt... until Shuichi had begun talking.

He started bringing up the evidence and making connections that none of us could. Our first task had been to identify the victim and the immediate evidence had shown it was Kaito. It was his coat sleeve hanging out from the press after all. We’d all seen it. Monokuma congratulated us on our correct deduction and allowed Kokichi to join us then, riding out in an exisal like a coward who couldn’t even face us.

“Eden! Nice to see you out and about today!” he cheered at me. I slammed my balled up fist on the rail of my podium, but Shuichi continued before a fight could break out.

We started to sift through the rest of the evidence, slowly uncovering that the scene hadn’t been as simple as we’d all assumed. Kokichi did his best to derail us at every given opportunity but he was practically ignored as certain details began to surface. Like how many crossbow arrows had been found at the scene. And why there was a bottle of antidote in the bathroom. 

That was when the twist came that none of us saw coming. Kaito had been poisoned by Maki’s arrow and crushed when Kokichi rigged the hydraulic press to do so… but not even Monokuma knew which had actually killed him. Even the footage we were given to prove Kaito had been in the press when it closed didn’t answer the question. And if Monokuma didn’t know who the culprit was, it meant the killing game had to end. Right? Kokichi repeated this theory again and again, taunting the bear as though he had him in a corner.

But… that didn’t make any sense. Kokichi was the mastermind and according to Maki, he had already announced the killing game was over. Why would he need to make sure Monokuma couldn’t properly solve the murder? The killing game was supposedly over, right? He still had the power to do that… right?

Unless if he didn’t…

Which would only mean he wasn’t the mastermind. It was another lie. 

Shuichi caught on to the inconsistency as well, and we found ourselves needing to dive even deeper into the case, trying to see if there was a way we could prove how Kaito had died. Again, Kokichi was trying his hardest to throw us off the scent, but if he really wasn’t the one in charge of the killing game, it could mean that Monokuma would still have us all killed for figuring out the wrong culprit. And even if I was still of the mindset that I was okay with dying at any given time, everyone else clearly wanted to live so I owed it to them to give it my best efforts. 

Then, another twist hit that threw us completely off guard for a second time. There was a chance the body wasn’t Kaito’s. The mystery was now not about figuring out the killer, but figuring out the victim. And Monokuma didn’t know the answer to that one either.

Finding a body crushed in a hydraulic press was horrifying in its own right. But considering that it may have been Kokichi who was in there this whole time… Even the exisal mocking us proved nothing because it had already been pointed out the machine had a voice changer. Anyone could be in there pretending to be anyone. Not knowing was making me feel sick all over again. What if that whole time I had been standing so close to Kokichi’s corpse, crushed beyond recognition, and not known it? Any crushed corpse was disturbing enough. But if it was Kokichi’s...

Somehow, Shuichi figured it out. The exisal opened up, and Kaito emerged.

Kokichi was dead.

And I went numb. 

The trial wound down, the details being broken down until there was no denying what took place, and after voting time, Monokuma announced that Kaito was the blackened… even if we knew damn well he still didn’t know that for a fact. It still could have been Maki’s poison, but the bear had been irritated enough to just want an excuse for an execution.

The others stood around Kaito in tears, grieving that we had to say another goodbye and see yet another friend face an execution they didn’t deserve. I watched from the sidelines, feeling the last of my sanity break. 

Somehow I was able to hear Kaito’s words as he shared his last conversation with Kokichi. 

_ “How can a game that you’re forced to play be fun?! I had to think this game was fun to survive… I had to lie to myself! The bastards who created this game to toy with our lives… and the shits enjoying it… They all piss me off! That’s why… I’m willing to do whatever it takes to end this game!” _

I stopped breathing.

_ “Even if you guys can’t make it outta here… even if you have to live here for the rest of your lives… if it’ll get you to stop killing each other and put a stop to Monokuma’s fun… then in the end I still won. So don’t let them fuck this up. And… look after Eden for me. Hopefully… I made her hate me enough to make this easier on her.” _

Every insane stunt Kokichi had pulled, especially since Korekiyo’s execution, suddenly had a reason behind it. And not one of pure sadism. His murder plot with Gonta had been an attempt to save us all from the outside world with a mercy killing. But then that didn’t work as we all wanted to survive and keep fighting anyways. So then he did what he could to convince us that he was the mastermind to get us to stop killing each other and maybe even draw the real mastermind out of the works. But then Maki shot him with the poisoned arrow, starting the killing game up again which left him with no other options. Or at least no other options that he could apparently see at the time. He rigged up the seemingly impossible case to try to bring a final end to the killing game. And it almost worked.

But now we knew the truth. And he was dead. No matter what Kaito said, assuring us that this only brought us closer to finding the true mastermind and telling us to not give up hope… I felt from the bottom of my heart that Kokichi had died for nothing. And worse, I’d just watched him being crushed over and over and over again every time we replayed that damn video.

And making me hate him was supposed to make any of that easier?! I wanted to scream.

As Kaito was carted off to his execution, I didn’t even stay to watch. I was done. Picking up the video camera as I walked, I slipped onto the elevator unnoticed and headed to my lab.

I knew what I was going to do and I knew that this was the only time I could do it without putting them at risk. They were all still gathered together, watching each other, and I had the camera as a backup. No one would be punished for this. Maybe it was cowardly… but I’d passed my limit. I’d passed it a long time ago. Kokichi would hate me for this if he could see it, but he was dead. And I couldn’t live in a place where all I’d forever be reminded was of how so many of us died at each other’s hands, some of us more agonizing deaths than others. I couldn’t live out the rest of my natural life in a place like this.

I entered my lab and found a spot to set up the camera where there would be no question that the footage was genuine. No weird angles to hide anything. And to spare everyone from another locked-room mystery, I made sure my door was propped wide open. I would have taken it off the hinges, but I doubted I could do that before they’d split up again and no longer be able to account for each other’s presence.

Once the setup was complete, I took my position in front of the camera. “My name is Eden O’Mara, and what you are about to see is a suicide.” I held up a scalpel, making sure it was plainly visible for the footage. “If there is a class trial for this, I’m the blackened, but you all should already know that.” My hand was steady as I held the blade to my neck. “I hope you all really do escape. I hope everything works out in the end. But I can’t do this anymore. I’m sorry.” I began to dig the blade into my neck, not shedding a tear as I uttered my last words. “Goodbye.” 

The blade cut with ease through my throat, and the last thing I saw was the blood gushing out of my neck.

* * *

A loud hissing filled my ears accompanied with the sounds of gears and mechanisms kicking into motion. Something was strapped to my face and my arms and legs were held down by some sort of restraint. I tried to open my eyes, but my eyelids felt so heavy that all I could do was remain still and listen to what was happening around me.

There came a sound like a hatch opening, and the air on my face seemed to change temperatures. 

Then the restraints opened with a loud clunking sound and before I could catch myself, I was falling and landing hard on a tile floor. For several minutes, or so it felt, I was laying there in confusion. Eventually, with some struggling, I was finally able to open my eyes. 

The room around me looked completely unfamiliar. The floor and walls were covered in large white tiles. Large pod-shaped machines stood in a row, each of them containing glass panels in the front that allowed anyone to look at what was inside. My arms were shaky but as I pushed myself up, I could already feel bits of my strength returning, like waking up from a nap that had stretched out for too long.

Behind me was an open pod, making me realize that was where I had fallen from, and my heart began to pound. It felt like something from a sci-fi movie, but this couldn’t be real. This had to be a dream. 

I continued to push myself until I was finally able to get to my feet, trying to take in the room around me but barely able to comprehend it. I remembered being in my lab. I remembered the camera and the scalpel…

My hand went to my throat, feeling for the proof that it even happened, but my fingers met with ordinary skin. No slits, no blood, not even pain. 

I knew it had happened. I remembered it vividly! I had cut my throat. I had felt myself die. So where was the evidence? Was I dead? Was this the afterlife? No… No that couldn’t be right. Why would the afterlife have a setup like this?

I was still clumsy on my legs, but I stumbled my way to one of the pods to look inside. There was a woman locked in place with some sort of mask attached to her face, possibly to make sure she kept breathing. Her hair was long and brown and she was dressed in a white hospital gown, exactly like the one I suddenly noticed I was wearing as well. 

Was that… Maki?

It was hard to fully make out her features with the mask and… she somehow looked different from what little I could see. But I knew it was her. What was happening? What was this?

I started walking along the other pods, looking inside to see if there were others. Many of the pods were empty, but soon I discovered three more. Himiko, Shuichi, and Tsumugi. 

My heart began to beat even faster and dread made my blood run cold. Was this… some sort of human experimentation? 

No… No, this didn’t make any sense.

I shakily backed away, looking around in a panic. Something was very very wrong. The urge to run kicked in, and that was when I heard footsteps coming from outside the room, making their way to the door. Whoever it was, I didn’t want them near me. I didn’t want to know what they were going to do to me. I darted to the wall adjacent to the door, standing against it to make sure I would be hidden when the door opened, and I waited.

The footsteps came to a stop. There came the beeping of what was probably some sort of door code, and the handle turned as the door began to open. Thinking as fast as I could, I grabbed the handle on my side as firmly as I could manage when it was in my reach, then threw my weight against the door. Whoever was on the other side collided against it hard and immediately gave a shout of pain, followed by swearing. I didn’t stop to look at him -the voice was definitely a man’s-, but ran through the doorway and into the hall. 

“Hey! Stop!”

The shouting was coming from behind me but I didn’t stop, focusing instead on moving as fast as I could with as many sharp turns as possible. There had to be an exit somewhere. I just had to find it and keep running. To where? I had no idea. I just had to escape.

Around the next corner I only barely registered the body of another person stepping curiously out of their room to see what the commotion was about before I collided into them, sending us both to the floor. “Ow! Wh- What the…” he stammered, but before he opened his eyes, I was already scrambling off of him and crawling backwards. Golden eyes stared back at me through a messy tangle of long black hair and he was suddenly upright, reaching out for me. “Eden?!”

I was going crazy. I had to be. The cauldron… the smell… the bile rising to my throat as I had to fish out the body… All of it flashed through my mind as I refused to accept what was right in front of me.

“N- No… No! You’re dead! You’re dead!” I cried, shakily getting to my feet.

“There she is! Hurry!” a voice shouted from behind me, and my adrenaline spiked. Leaping past what was definitely not Korekiyo, I took off again and around the corner. There was more than one of them chasing me now. I could hear a woman and at least two men. How many people were there? I had to get away before there were too many of them.

Around the next corner, two more men were waiting and I skidded to a stop, snapping around and darting in the opposite direction. “Eden!” one of them was calling. “Eden, please stop! You’re not in any danger!”

How did they know my name? I didn’t recognize any of them!

A door opened just as I was passing it and someone lunged out, closing their hand around my arm and making me lose my footing. “Whoa! Hey!... Calm down! It’s gonna be okay, I promise!” I didn’t recognize this voice either but looked at the strange man who only barely stopped me from falling over. He was very pale with white hair that almost looked like some sort of misshapen cloud on top of his head. He wore a calm smile on his face and it only served to further unnerve me to the core. 

“Let go!” I screamed, fighting to break free, but when it didn’t work, I balled up my fist and punched him in the stomach. His hand loosened enough for me to break free and I kept running. 

I was growing tired. I was never a good runner to begin with, and whatever they had done to me I was sure was causing my legs to grow shakier with every step. I started to stumble and nearly fall entirely. They were catching up and around the next corner I collided with a woman who held on to me with an even firmer grip. “Got her!” she called over my shoulder, then managed to wrestle me to the ground, holding me in place. “Stop struggling! You’re gonna hurt yourself!”

“Get off!” I shrieked, ignoring her warnings as I tried my best to thrash myself free. But my body was exhausted and there was no way I could overpower her even if it wasn’t. “Let go! Let me go!” I knew she wasn’t going to, but I wasn’t going to just lie still. My mind was in a panicked frenzy, and seeing six more people running up to me only made me panic even more.

“Hold her legs still,” a woman with lilac hair instructed the man with white hair and another with brown hair, and they hurried behind me. I couldn’t see what they were doing but I soon felt their hands pinning my legs down while the woman pulled out a syringe and followed them.

“N- No! Don’t do this! Please don’t do this! Let me go!” My throat felt raw from how loud I was screaming, and at the pinch of the needle I screamed even louder. “Help! Someone please help me!”

My head began to feel fuzzy and holding it up was growing rapidly impossible. My vision blurred and words grew slurred. The last thing I saw was  _ him _ standing at a distance in the hall.

* * *

“Are you ready to talk? I’d understand if you’re still shaken up…”

“Let me go! Why are you doing this?”

Sitting in front of me was the strange white-haired man from before, smiling just as calmly as before while I lay strapped down to what looked like some sort of hospital bed. 

“I know it’s all scary, and that’s mostly our fault,” he confessed with a soft chuckle. “Usually someone is there the minute the pod opens to help calm the situation. But you woke up so unexpectedly, it took us a minute to realize it. We already had our hands busy with that other guy who showed up right before you.”

Nothing he was saying made any sense and I looked around as if I expected the answer to somehow present itself. “W- Wakes up?” I asked, looking back at him. “What does that mean? Is this… Am I in a hospital?”

“It really looks like one, doesn’t it?” he mused, looking around the room as well. “It even has that sterile smell. And I’ve said before we should do something about the scratchy sheets. But I guess that’s not a very important matter.”

I groaned and let my head hit the pillow again. “You’re not making anything clear.”

“Oh, right… Sorry. I know it’s inconvenient to have to deal with trash like me right after waking up from the game. But they said it would be good for my people skills.” Despite calling himself trash, he was chuckling as if that belief was nothing that bothered him. “I suppose I should start with an introduction. I’m Nagito Komaeda. I’m an ultimate just like you. Ultimate Lucky Student… Though I guess I should change the title since I’m not a student anymore...”

“U- Ultimate?” Oh god… We were still in Hope’s Peak?! Were new people added to the killing game? But… no that didn’t explain the pods… 

“You don’t have to introduce yourself if you don’t want to,” he continued. “I already know who you are. I’ve been watching you, along with all the others.” He frowned then. “I normally look up to ultimates… but you have a talent I don’t think I’d particularly enjoy. Though I suppose with all the despair you must dive into, you understand how much hope can be born from it.” There was something unsettling in his eyes as he said that. “Maybe I’ve thought about it all wrong… To witness hope being born from the seeds of despair…” Then he caught himself and blushed. “Uh… forgive me. I’m still not very good at this. You probably want me to explain what’s going on?”

I blinked. “...Yes?”

He smiled then and moved his seat a little closer. “I know this is going to be a lot to take in, so please stop me if you need a break to wrap your head around anything.” He curled a finger over his chin and glanced to the side as if he were trying to solve a puzzle in his head. “Where should I start though… I guess with the game. You’ve been trapped inside a virtual reality program for the last five years.”

Wait… what?!

“Five years?” I echoed back. “W- Wait… No, that’s wrong!”

“Hah… You sound just like someone I know.” He smiled and stood up, crossing the room to pick up a hand mirror on the counter at the far end, then returned and handed it to me. “This will probably be a shock to you, but take a look for yourself and tell me if you see a difference?”

Slowly, he moved the mirror until I could see it and I turned white. My blue eyes were brown. My hair was long and brown instead of blonde. There were freckles I never had before. Hints of what I remembered my reflection looking like were there enough for me to recognize myself, but the differences were alarming at the same time.

And I was definitely not a teenager anymore.

“M- My face…! What did you do to my face?! What’s happening to me?! What did you do to me?!” The heart monitor started beeping wildly and Nagito quickly put the mirror away, looking apologetic and panicked at the same time.

“Please! Try to calm down,” he begged. “I know it’s scary, but I promise no one here did anything to you.”

“That’s not my face!” I cried. “That’s n- not me!”

He frowned and sat at the edge of the bed, awkwardly looking around and trying to figure out how to fix this situation. Hesitantly, he took my hand and the restraints kept me from tugging it away. “The program changed your appearance so you looked different in the VR world,” he explained once I stopped shouting. “The you that you remember was made up for that world. The way you looked, a lot of your memories… most of your identity was completely fabricated for the program. Haven’t you noticed the way you talk is different as well?”

“What are you-” I froze. I noticed it. The tone was almost the same but there was an Irish brogue. Not an overwhelming one, but I could hear it as I spoke. Now that I was listening for it at least. “What’s… What’s happening to me?”

Nagito sighed and shook his head. “This is the real you, Eden. Almost everything about you in the program was completely fabricated. The only things that we know for a fact were never changed were your name and your talent.”

I lay quiet to process this and thought back on the Maki I saw when I fell out of the pod. She had looked different. Not extremely different, and the mask kept me from seeing everything but she still looked different enough for me to notice. So did the others now that I thought about it.

Fabricated for a program… Did that mean…?

“Then… was all of it fake? The killing game?” Had I really seen who I thought I’d seen in the hall?

Nagito nodded his head with a smile. “Feels too real while it’s happening, doesn’t it? There are people here who know all too well what that’s like, myself being one of them I’m afraid. If you’d like someone better to talk to, someone who isn’t scum, I’m sure they’ll be happy to listen later on. Right now they’re all a little busy. So many of you have been waking up at once, it gets hard to keep up.”

I listened, wondering if this was just a dream. Maybe I hadn’t succeeded at dying. Maybe I was in a coma right now and this was some elaborate dream…

“And… why were we in that program?” I asked.

Again he sighed. “None of you have had any memory of this so far so it’s likely you won’t either. But it began nearly a decade ago with the worst, most despair inducing event in the history of mankind…” He went on to begin to tell the story of a student named Junko Enoshima, who she had brought Hope’s Peak to its knees and formed the Remnants of Despair, brainwashed Ultimates that carried out her work until they were rescued and rehabilitated. 

“We thought that we’d finally ended all of Junko’s plans for the world and begun to start healing it with hope. But then we discovered we weren’t the only ones. Ultimates around the world had gone missing, presumably killed when the world fell into despair. But it turned out that wasn’t the case at all. Many of them, yourself included, were forced into a simulation similar to the Jabberwock Island Killing Game. Every time one simulation is ended, a new one begins, all of them attempted traps for the Future Foundation and a way of spreading despair once again. The division I work for, Project Veritas, we’re dedicated to finding each simulation as they begin and saving the people trapped inside.” He frowned. “However, whoever created the programs knew what they were doing and lately we’ve been stuck having to make sure avatars are not deleted so that the victims are able to wake up safely.”

This was… a lot. A lot to take in all at once. 

None of this sounded familiar. I didn’t know anything about Junko or the tragedy or even the Remnants of Despair. But then, if my memories were fabricated in the simulation… then maybe it meant that my memories before the simulation were gone? “I still don’t understand,” I finally said. “Why would whoever did this go to all this trouble? How does fucking with the heads of a group of ultimates help spread despair?”

“Because every killing game gets broadcast,” he answered. “Or at least it does until we manage to find the source and cut it off. It seems all the simulations were programmed to do that. And we still don’t know how many are left. But if the world is made to see beacons of hope turning against each other and actively killing each other… it spreads so much despair. Like a cancer.” 

People were  _ watching  _ us?

“But don’t worry. Your killing game was cut out before the first death. No one’s seen any of the murders. Getting you out of the program may be tricky but ending the broadcast has been surprisingly easy by comparison. That may just be my luck though.”

If this was a dream, I assumed I would have woken up by now. But the more he spoke, the more I accepted that this wasn’t a dream. “So… are they all alive?” I finally asked.

Nagito nodded his head. “I think you even crashed into one of them in the hall. Made him knock his head pretty hard on the floor…” 

“Kiyo?!” I cried, trying to sit up but pressing so hard into the restraints I forgot were there. “And Kokichi? Gonta? Kaede? They’re all-”

“All here,” he answered with a chuckle. “Kaito actually got up and started moving again earlier this morning. They’re all alive.” 

A sob escaped my mouth before I could even attempt to muffle it. If this was a dream, I never wanted to wake up. “Please… l- let me see them all. I need to see them.”

With a smile, the Ultimate Lucky Student stood up and began to undo the restraints.


	11. Awake

“Hey, look who’s up!”

Nagito announced our arrival as he walked me into the common room where the others were gathered around Kaito already, and faces turned in our direction.

“Already? Eden!” I could barely register that it was Kaede who spoke before she was bounding over to me and throwing her arms around me. “Eden, you’re awake!”

“Welcome back, kid,” a deep voice said behind her. It must have been Ryoma.

“Nya-haha! As fast recovery indeed! Glad to see you are awake!” I guess the real Angie was still just as bubbly.

“Another three at once. It seems we are almost fully reunited.” Kirumi.

“Eden, what the hell happened? I didn’t even see you take off!” Kaito was right behind Kaede, pulling me into a hug as well. It was brief though as he was soon looking around and calling out, “Where is that asshole? Kokichi! Kokichi, look!”

“Stop shouting at me! Jeez! The hell do you wa- Eden!” 

I recognized his voice and as Kaito let go of me, I spun around, letting out a cry as I ran right into Kokichi’s arms while he ran at the same time to meet me in the middle. “Y- You’re alive! You’re alive!” I wept, clinging onto him and shaking. “You’re alive!”

He sniffled and let out a choked laugh. “N- Nee-heehee… You’re d- dead!” he joked. “And.. I- Irish?”

I tried to laugh, but I was crying too hard, afraid this would be the part where I’d wake up. But the way he held me tight told me this really was happening. He really was alive. “Y- You’re such an a- asshole… Don’t l- let go. Don’t let go.” I felt his lips press against my temple and he held me firmly against him until I was ready to finally step out of his embrace enough to look at the others. Even then, he kept his arms around me, only loosening them enough for me to turn until I could at least see them.

Kaito was smiling at us. “Christ… I’m glad you’re awake but… still feel bad I didn’t notice you were sneaking off before I got executed. Feels like I shoulda warned them or tried to stop you.”

“Yeah but can you blame her for finally hitting her limit? She’s been handling all of our dead bodies from day one,” Ryoma replied. “It’s good to have you back.”

I wiped my eyes as I listened and accepted the tissue Kirumi handed me. “You’ve all been watching? You saw wh- what I did?”

“It’s been… hard to watch,” Kaede answered, looking down. “Even if we know everything happening’s only a simulation, they don’t know that yet and it’s hard to watch them suffer.”

“How are you handling being awake?” Rantaro was talking now, arms folded over his chest. It was strange seeing him without the piercings or rings. “Heard you had a rougher wakeup than the rest of us.”

“Hah… yeah. That was mostly our fault,” Nagito replied apologetically.

“Yeah but it was pretty funny watching you damn near give Kiyo a concussion!” Miu laughed. “Should see the knot on the back of his head! Totally deserved it though.”

The mention of Korekiyo made me immediately look around, but I didn’t see him. “Where is he?” I asked.

“Still in his therapy session,” Rantaro answered. “We all have to take them. Not that it’s really a bad thing after what we’ve been through.” He huffed with amusement. “Though I guess I really don’t have as much of a need for it. I died so early and so suddenly, it wasn’t like I had much trauma to process from the game. But… processing how much of our memories were fake… it’s fucked up.” 

I frowned and nodded my head, still not having reached the point of dealing with that matter yet. However… there was something unnerving about seeing the person whose corpse I’d handled suddenly up and talking to me again. Actually, it was very unnerving. And discovering that felt like stumbling into the uncanny valley. I looked around at all of them, able to remember how I’d handled each of their bodies. None of that had been real? No matter how real I remembered it being? It felt worse than being robbed of memories. It felt like having nightmares forced inside my head instead. Only nightmares were easy to shake off. This was something much worse. And it hadn’t been real...

“She’s got the stare,” Ryoma commented, pulling me out of my thoughts, and I felt Kokichi gently tug me back.

“C’mon. I’ll show you where the rooms are,” he said, clearly making an excuse for us to walk away from them. I had no desire to argue and nodded my head, muttering an incoherent apology as I allowed him to lead me into the hall.

We walked until we reached a row of doors and Kokichi reached out, opening one of them and leading me inside. “This is my room,” he said quietly. “I’ll take you to yours later.” I was turned around and pulled back into his arms where I buried my face in his chest and held on to him. “When I heard you woke up and you’d come alone… I knew. I m- made them show me.” His grip became shaky. “I didn’t think… didn’t think you would… I didn’t want to hurt you so m- much…” His face was suddenly buried into my shoulder and I felt him shudder against me. “I… wanted it to be easier. But I… I was running out of time. I couldn’t m- make you hate me enough.”

My voice broke when I tried to reply and he only held me tighter. “I’m sorry I c- couldn’t push through it… I just couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t. It hurt too much!” 

“Sh- Shit… Eden…” He took my face in his hands and made me look at him. “I h- hurt so many people. I hurt you! Why? Why w- would you f- forgive me? Why are any of th- them forgiving me?! They sh- should be hating me! You especially!” He pressed his forehead against mine as tears fell down his cheeks. “Why w- would you want to d- die over s- someone so stupid?!”

“B- Because I never wanted you to die!” I cried, resting my hands on top of his. “I d- didn’t w- wanna be stuck living in a pl- place where I’d h- have to remember you w- were dead! And K- Kiyo! I… I felt like I could f- face that hell as long as I h- had you guys with me. But I couldn’t do it a- anymore! And I’m sorry!”

“Eden…” He sniffled, still holding on to me and this time I took the initiative because it was the only thing that felt right. Leaning in, I pressed my lips to his and he responded as if it was all muscle memory. One of his hands went behind my head and into my hair, pressing my face closer while his other arm locked around my waist. I could feel his fingers curling into my shirt and holding me in a firm grip, and I let one of my hands tangle into his hair. 

His lips were just as soft as they had been in the simulation but there was something more intense in the way he held me. It felt real. Not that it hadn’t the first time, but somehow it felt even more real. He was right there and alive. Holding me like before and kissing me. And it felt like only minutes ago I’d believed I’d never experience it again. 

As he grew more brave with me, the kiss deepened, his lips coaxing mine apart until I felt his tongue pressing through, driving me to open up to him. My body was responding to all of it, truly feeling how starved for touch I had been. Maybe somewhere physically, I could feel how long I’d spent locked away in a pod, devoid of real human contact. I didn’t know but I felt myself fighting with the immediate urge to tug him to the bed and beg him to have me until I couldn’t feel anything anymore. But something about that urge felt wrong, so I pushed it back.

Kokichi was the one to finally end the kiss, pulling back enough to move his lips to my cheeks, kissing away the tears even if it was a vain effort. I hadn’t cried so hard in a long time. His forehead rested against mine again and he let out a sigh, his eyes remaining closed. “K- Kiyo… should be outta therapy by now… You should go see him.”

My heart twisted and I gripped his shirt with shaking hands. “D- Don’t… push me away,” I whimpered pathetically. “Please.”

“Eden,” he whispered, leaning in to give me another light kiss on the lips. “Whatever happens… you always got me. I promise.” His voice trembled and he swallowed hard, his eyes opening again for fresh tears to fall. “N- No matter what.”

“You lied,” I said, struggling to talk over the lump in my throat. “You lied last time. You lied!”

“I swear I’m not lying this time.” Another kiss. “Go see Kiyo. I don’t… I don’t care about how you feel about him. It’s not gonna make you lose me. I promise. Whatever I have to do, I’ll prove I’m not lying to you.” He pulled me into a hug and I tried so hard to believe him as I hugged him back. When he released me, he offered a sad smile. “And if you want, we can keep up tradition and camp out in each other’s rooms tonight. Kinda got used to sleeping next to someone.”

He’d better not be lying. My heart wouldn’t take another betrayal.

“Okay,” I answered, then reluctantly made my way to the door.

* * *

I didn’t know if I was ready to find him. Even with Kokichi urging me to do it, the old wounds were still there, even if it was all fabricated. My feelings before Korekiyo’s death had been confusing at best. And now that I faced the reality of being able to see him again, they only grew more convoluted. The betrayal felt real. The heartache felt real. The anger and how much I’d tried to make myself hate him felt real.

The smell from that cauldron was still burned in my memory and it still felt real.

I wandered aimlessly, not really trying to find him. For all I knew, I could get myself lost in whatever this facility was and I didn’t care. Or at least I wouldn’t if I didn’t still have that sliver of hope that Kokichi would be waiting for me. I wanted to believe him. But I felt stupid for it. Self-sabotage felt like my default mode.

“Eden…”

The voice stopped me. I was in the middle of an unfamiliar hallway and turned around. Korekiyo was standing there, looking nervous. His hands no longer were wrapped in bandages but he was picking at his skin, and judging by the scabs, that seemed to be a regular nervous habit. His appearance was probably the least changed of everyone. His hair and eyes were the same. He wasn’t wearing a mask anymore though, and he looked a little older, just like we all did. And rather than the olive green uniform I’d grown used to, he was dressed in a long black cardigan that looked fairly thin, over top of a black shirt and black slacks. It was different but somehow fitting.

He was standing several feet away and even though he’d called my name, he didn’t move closer. He was really nervous.

“I have been looking for you,” he said at last. “If you are willing… I would like to speak with you.”

His way of talking was still the same so maybe not a lot of his personality was changed either. Then again, that may not be a good thing.

I took a deep breath and nodded my head. “Okay. Where?”

He gestured to a door at the end of the hall. “There is a library in there. I doubt we will be disturbed.”

I was hesitant, but there were security cameras everywhere and I had a feeling there was someone from the Future Foundation keeping an eye on us just in case. If things went bad, I had to trust that they would see it and come running. With another nod, I turned and headed that way, opening the door, then leaving it wide open as I headed inside.

The library was not like the one in the simulation. The shelves were well maintained, the books didn’t smell old and musty, and there were plenty of places to sit and read. I would have to make use of it later on. A good book sounded so perfect. 

Even with chairs available, I still picked a spot to sit on the floor, resting my back against a wall while Korekiyo grabbed a chair and moved it so he could sit in front of me. Rather than his usual upright and confident demeanor, he sat hunched over, elbows resting on his legs and fingers picking away at his hands. It made me wonder if that was the real reason he’d always worn bandages in the simulation.

“What did you want to say to me?” I finally asked when it looked like he couldn’t find the words to start the conversation.

“I… owe you an apology,” he answered, not looking up at me. “I owe you many apologies. What happened in that fabricated world… what I did… I have regretted it since the moment I awoke.”

That could mean anything. “What are you apologizing for?”

He picked so hard his hand started to bleed, but it only made him move on to another spot. “I have already made amends with Tenko and Angie. There seems to be a running agreement among everyone that we will not hold what happened in the virtual world against each other. Even so, that does not simply take away the guilt and… I know I hurt you.”

I took in a deep breath and held it until my chest hurt, turning my eyes to the ceiling to fight back the tears. I hated how much I’d been crying lately. “Yeah. You did.” My voice was rough and I tried to clear the lump in my throat.

“I cared deeply for you,” he continued. “That was never a lie. What Kokichi theorized before my execution was correct. I… could never bring myself to kill you.” His voice wavered and he sniffled, starting to rock a bit in his seat. I’d never seen him this unsettled, except for maybe during his trial. “Even when th- that thing insisted I should. It wanted so badly for me to kill you and be rid of you.”

I looked back down from the ceiling to see his face. Tears were falling from his eyes and landing on his bloodied hands. He’d been picking so much already, it looked like it hurt. “That… thing?” I asked.

He finally made eye contact. “I… have no sister. It was all a lie.” Just saying those words, his tone was filled with mourning, as if someone precious to him and truly died and would never return. “After they started therapy, I was psychoanalyzed.”

He was hesitant to continue but I felt impatient even if I knew I should probably be trying to show compassion. “And what did they find? Are you really a serial killer?”

He gave me a pained look in response and lowered his head. “No. I have never harmed anyone. Even those memories -and there are memories- were a lie. And I have no desire to cause harm to anyone. The fact that I did in the simulation sickens me, though I would not blame you if you were unable to believe me.” He reached for a box of tissues and wiped his nose. “I’ve been diagnosed with schizotypal personality disorder.”

I blinked, not familiar with that term. “Like… schizophrenia?”

“It is similar but not the same. There was no kind of medication provided to me in the pod so a lot of the symptoms transferred into the simulation. That may have been intentional for all I know. Whoever did this to us was a sadist.” He used his hand to wipe his eyes while the other tossed the tissue away. As he began to list out the symptoms, my mind began making connections with what I’d seen in the simulation.

“Odd thought and speech.” His obsession with humanity’s beauty and the way he spoke to others. “Unusual perceptional experiences.” Hearing and believing his sister lived inside of him, telling him to do things. “Odd beliefs of magical thinking.” His firm belief he could commune with the dead and contact spirits. “Lack of friends or confidants, except for first degree relatives.” His sister. “Eccentric or peculiar behavior or appearance.” Aside from dressing in a way that only showed his eyes, the way he grew his hair and painted his lips in honor of his sister. There were other items on the list but those were the main symptoms that stood out to me.

When he finished there was another long silence and I watched as he picked his hands raw. “It is… not an excuse for what I did. Or what the simulation said I did.” He sighed. “I… still don’t know how to process that. It was fabricated but it was real in its own way. I made my own choices. No one forced me.”

I could at least relate to some of that, thinking of the way I’d let myself crumble and resorted to self harm on more than one occasion. I still anticipated my back to hurt every time I moved even if I wasn’t really injured. “No diagnosis exempts me from what I’ve done,” he continued. His voice was thick with tears and the remorse in his features was genuine. I didn’t have to doubt it which was somewhat of a relief. Not that it fixed anything. “All I can do is apologize to you, Eden. For what I put you through, how much I hurt and betrayed you… I am sorry.” He ducked his head down and held his face in his hands. “If y- you never forgive me… I understand for I cannot understand how the others have managed to do it. Who I was… what I did… was vile. I was a m- monster. And it does not matter that it was not real. In my head, it was.” His voice broke and he began to weep. “I have so many memories of the lives I took. Innocent girls who trusted me. Some of them pleading for their lives until the end. And I took joy in their deaths because I believed it was all for my sister! A sister who never existed in the first place!”

I let out a sob, unable to hold it in anymore and curled into a ball, hiding my face in my knees. I didn’t know how to feel. I wanted so badly to hate him. It would be so much easier if I could just hate him, or so it felt. “There is… no relief in knowing I never really killed anyone. In my memories, it was real and that doesn’t go away.”

“Y- Yeah… it doesn’t,” I agreed, running a hand through my hair and digging my nails into my scalp.

His crying began to subside, but his tone was still very raw. “Watching you hurt yourself… Watching you h- handle my corpse… I cannot tell you how much pain it brought me. How much regret I felt. That I still feel. I betrayed you, but the way I felt for you… that was never a lie.”

I looked up at him. “You never told me how you felt, Kiyo. You fucked me and then you distanced yourself before stabbing me and everyone else in the back. I had no fucking idea how you felt about me. For all I knew, you were manipulating me to throw me off to what you were planning.”

He looked up at me. “I… You’re right. I never did say it.” He took in a shaky breath. “I think… I was beginning to fall for you. I cared for you deeply and that is not a lie. When the time came for me to claim another life… I couldn’t even bring myself to take yours.”

“You almost did,” I cut in. “The night before? When you were arguing with her in your lab? I know you were coming to kill me.”

His body went tense and more tears fell. “Th- Thank god I couldn’t find you.” 

“Kokichi got to me first. He helped me hide. He protected me from you.” I knew I was growing more blunt, but all those horrible memories and feelings were coming back and all I wanted to do was lash out. “And after you died, he was the one who had to help pick up the pieces.” And then he betrayed me too, but right now I wasn’t focusing on that. All I could think of was when he’d found me whipping myself in Korekiyo’s destroyed lab.

“I know. I saw that for myself.” He cleared his throat and wiped his eyes again. “I am glad he was able to take care of you for the brief amount of time he did.” He didn’t seem to want to bring up how fast things went downhill right after that and I was grateful.

The conversation had long passed the point of making me uncomfortable and I stood up. “I’m glad you’re getting help. And I’m glad the others have forgiven you. I’m just… Too much is happening and I’m overwhelmed. I can’t think through this right now.”

He nodded his head in understanding and lowered his eyes. “Do you hate me?”

The question tugged at my heart. “I don’t know,” I answered because it was the closest to the truth that I could reach. And deep down, I knew I was being hypocritical. I’d been so quick to forgive Kokichi but I couldn’t do the same for Korekiyo. “I just need to walk away from this for tonight.” I started towards the door, but paused before entering the hallway. “Thank you for apologizing.”

There was no answer from him and I left.

* * *

I woke up screaming, holding my head in my hands and shaking. I’d been trapped inside the oven again, but this time every body I’d handled was stuffed inside with me and we were burning together, the stench unbearable and the throwing me into agony. My stomach churned and flipped over, and I was suddenly up, running to the bathroom and throwing up. There wasn’t much in my system to come up but my body heaved violently, making my stomach hurt like hell. When it was over and I’d flushed it down, I sat on the bathroom floor, sobbing.

I hadn’t heard Kokichi come running but eventually I was aware of him standing in the doorway, watching me with sad eyes. As my sobbing quieted down, he drew closer and knelt down in front of me. “We’ve all been having nightmares,” he said softly. “I swear we all wake up every night to at least one person screaming.”

I couldn’t speak. Instead I reached out until he finally pulled me into his arms and held me. “Wanna talk about it?” he asked, stroking my hair. I shook my head. There was no way in hell I even wanted to start to think about it, even as it was pushing at the front of my mind. He didn’t push me but gave me a squeeze instead. “I’m… I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it stop. I tr- tried.” I hid my face in his chest and he just continued to stroke my hair, soothing me a little. 

I don’t know how long we sat there before I could finally be convinced to go back to bed, but as soon as I was under the sheets, I was curled up against him, holding on through the night until I finally managed to fall asleep again.

By morning, I didn’t want to get out of bed. Every time Kokichi tried, I pulled the covers over my head and hid. He quietly gave up, not even teasing me like I would have expected him to, and left to get some breakfast. About an hour later, he was back with a plate for me. “Not gonna make you get outta bed today, but you’re gonna eat,” he said as he pulled the covers away from my body. “Don’t even need to talk to me. Just… you gotta eat.”

I couldn’t even tell if I was hungry, but eventually I sat up, tucking my hair behind my ears -it was so much thicker and curlier than I was used to- and took the plate from him, taking small bites as I ate. “They’re starting your therapy today,” he said after watching me for a few minutes. “It’s not that bad. They don’t get pushy and venting… helps a lot.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I muttered between bites. “I just wanna forget.” They had to have the technology to do that here, right? Wipe my memory and plant something different? Maybe give me my old memories back?

“They’re not gonna let you forget,” he said with a sigh. “Trust me. We’ve all tried. They said if they screw with our brains anymore we could all wind up braindead. Apparently whatever happened to us, it put a lot of strain on our minds. It’s not safe.”

“Shite…” I hissed, then blinked at the word that came out of my mouth. I still wasn’t used to how my voice sounded and occasionally a word would slip out that felt both unnatural and like muscle memory at the same time. It made me want to know even more who I was before all of this happened.

Kokichi couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “This… is gonna take some getting used to,” he said with a smile.

“I hate it,” I sighed. “I barely recognize my own face. My hair isn’t the same. My voice isn’t the same. I feel like… like I woke up a completely different person.”

“Nee-heehee! You’re still you, Eden,” he replied, a little cheerier now. “You look and sound different, but I can tell it’s you.”

I sighed. “It’s not fair. You barely look any different. Just older and your hair isn’t purple anymore. And Kiyo’s the same… I think? I never saw his face without a mask or lipstick.”

Kokichi shrugged. “He’s recognizable enough. And he told me you found each other last night.”

“Yeah… only because you wanted me to,” I grumbled, munching on an apple slice.

His smile faded and he sighed. “You’re still mad at him.” It was a statement, not a question. “But you forgive me? You realize that makes no sense, right? I fucked you over too ya know.”

I dropped the food in my hand back on the plate, not hungry anymore. “I fucking know it,” I answered, my tone growing snippy. “You’re both assholes, you both hurt me… You fucking hit and kicked me at one point and lied to me so many times… I know it makes no goddamn sense and I don’t know why it’s easier to forgive you and not him. Maybe I’m just stupid, okay? I’m fucking stupid.”

To my surprise, Kokichi was giggling. “What’s so funny?” I asked with a sigh.

“Nee-heehee… just… gonna have to get used to you saying the f-bomb like that.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about? I’ve sworn before lots of times.”

He started laughing outright then. “You didn’t notice you were saying ‘feckin’?”

My eyes widened. “What?!”

He shook his head and pulled me into his arms for a hug. “I’m s- sorry… haha… I do care that you’re upset but… I kinda like this. Wonder how many other words you’re gonna say weird.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes, but at the very least he’d pulled me out of my pity-party. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him back. “Am I stupid though?” I still asked, needing to know.

He finally stopped laughing and was quiet for a minute. “Honestly… I think anyone who’d wanna be with me as a friend or otherwise would have to be kinda stupid but… naw. You’re not. Given what we all went through, doesn’t mean we’re all gonna be making rational choices, ya know? Most of the people here have found ways to forgive each other and I’m still not sure that makes any sense. Even if what we went through was fake… we all still made our own choices, right?” I nodded my head in agreement and then he got quiet for a moment, getting serious again. “And… Eden, I’m sorry. For what I did to you. Not just the lying but… beating you up at the trial. I was trying so hard to make you hate me so maybe you’d be glad that I was dead. But I knew I’d taken it way too far. Honestly wish I’d just let you and Kaito hit me instead.” He rested his chin on top of my head. “I’m sorry.”

I sniffled and needed to wipe my eyes, growing dangerously close to falling back into my own head again. I needed to try to stop that. For both our sakes. “So… are you gonna pull an all nighter at a casino trying to get a $100,000 button for me?”

Kokichi snorted and shook his head. “Too late. You already forgave me so I’m off the hook.”

I sighed. “Shite.”


	12. Viewing Party

“I told you they were in here. C’mon.”

Kokichi finished picking the lock to the office and we all slipped inside, immediately heading for the filing cabinets. It was around 3 in the morning when we were fairly certain the Project Veritas members were finally in bed, and we had our own mission in mind. There was documentation around here somewhere about our pasts, but we hadn’t seen it yet. Asking about them had led to a non-committal, “We’ll show you those soon.” And they probably would have. But Kokichi had decided he was done waiting and the rest of us tagged along, all of us curious about what we would find, if there was anything to find.

It had been a couple days since the last of us woke up. Rather than one at a time, the final survivors all awoke from the simulation at once, and we had been ready for them. Kaito had been there to scoop Maki up into his arms, Kaede practically knocked Shuichi over with a hug, Tenko and Angie had Himiko sandwiched between them, and the rest of us were giving Keebo a warm welcome, glad to see him pull through with his personality very much in tact. 

Tsumugi, however, had to be sedated almost the moment she woke up. She was screaming and thrashing, like an animal, completely alarmed and confused by her surroundings. It was easy to want to hate her, now that we knew the nature of her character in the simulation, but she was as much a victim as the rest of us, if not worse. We hadn’t seen her since they took her away for observation and were still waiting to learn if she was going to recover.

“Check the cabinets, I’ll go for the computer,” Miu said as she headed behind a desk.

“Just don’t set off any alarms or give this place a virus,” Kokichi responded as he pulled open one of the drawers.

“If you could program Kokichi to shut up when you touch him, that’d be an improvement,” Kaito chimed in.

“Hahaha… how rude.”

I rolled my eyes and pulled out another cabinet, flipping through random files but having very little luck. “Are you sure they’re going to be in here?” I asked.

“Positive. It’s the only room they always keep locked.”

“Why wouldn’t they want us to see this stuff?” Tenko asked while shutting another drawer. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Perhaps they prefer we get a fresh start on our lives? Just like a rebirth,” Angie offered.

“Yeah well you can’t know where you’re going if ya don’t know where you come from,” Kokichi argued, tugging open another drawer. “Oh! Bingo! Shuichi I got yours!” He pulled out a file and handed it over to the detective, then went back to looking. “Yours too, Kiyo-baby! And Kirumi…” He passed out the other two files while Korekiyo rolled his eyes.   
  
“Do  **not** call me that again,” he sighed, then stepped away to find a place to sit and look through it.

“Must be alphabetical by last name,” I commented, moving to the cabinet Kokichi was in to wait while he checked the rest of the drawers.

“No more of us in this one,” he sighed, moving on to the next. I picked the one after him and started digging as well.

“Kaede, Rantaro…” I called out, pulling up their files and handing them over. “They’re so light.”

“I wouldn’t expect there’d be much,” Kaito agreed. “They would’ve told us more if there was, right? Oh! Eden, Kokichi… and here’s mine.” 

“Grab mine for me, will ya?” Kokichi asked me. “Gonna help the others find theirs.”

“How suspiciously helpful of you,” I chimed back, taking our files and finding a place to sit while the trickster snickered. As I flipped through my file, there really wasn’t much to find. My name was still the same. I’d never lived in America and it still confused me why that had been changed in the simulation. I was from Kilkenny, Ireland. No siblings. There were even a few photographs of my parents, who looked completely different than the memories I’d been given. Both had died a little over five years ago, which meant they’d passed right before I entered the simulation with everyone else. No surviving relatives. 

I didn’t know how to feel about that. The parents from my memories never even existed and even in fiction they had been barely present. The real ones in front of me looked like complete strangers. I felt like I was supposed to be feeling a loss but my brain wasn’t allowing for that connection. 

Kokichi was soon beside me again and I handed him his file. “Anything interesting?” he asked as he got himself situated.

“May come as a shock, but I’m feckin’ Irish,” I answered, purposefully embellishing my annonciation. 

“Nee-heehee! What a shock!” He started flipping through pages. “Wonder if I’m still an orphan.”

I looked up. “You were an orphan? I never knew that.”

“He’s probably lying,” Maki spoke up from where she sat.

“If it’s a lie, then this time it’s not  _ my _ lie,” Kokichi retorted. “Seriously though, that’s what I remember. I was an orphan. Never had any parents.”

“And suddenly so much is starting to make sense,” I muttered.

“Hey, your parents were absent too. And look how you turned out.”

“You’re right,” I sighed. “In the last few weeks I’ve been shoved in an oven, fucked a serial killer, gotten romantically involved with a criminal mastermind, terrorized by robotic bears, and handled corpses as an ultimate talent. Things really worked out great.”

Korekiyo looked up as if something I’d said hit a nerve, but it wasn’t exactly the part I’d thought it was. “We were on camera…” he said, looking at me as if he were just realizing that.

“Yes, you were…” Rantaro answered back in an amused tone.

“Yeah… we pretty much learned to stop watching after that,” Ryoma added with a shudder.

My face turned so red I could feel it burning. “Oh my god.”

“I need to see that tape,” Kokichi snickered.

“Ugh. You’re such a pervert!” Tenko objected. “And honestly, I’m surprised you two were allowed to get away with that!”

“What? You thought Monokuma had better morals than that?”

“Can we please stop talking about it,” Korekiyo sighed. “This is embarrassing enough.”

“Could’ve been worse, y’know. The transmission could have still been going.”

“Do you think they had cameras in the Love Hotel?” Kaito asked, looking up.

“Why? Did you go there?” Maki was eyeing him suspiciously. Everyone looked up then, hoping he chose his next words very carefully.

“Hah, c’mon. I never got close to winning one of those keys.” He paused and gave her an innocent look. “N- Not that… I ever tried, I mean.”

“Phsh! Well I did,” Miu responded.

“Tried or went?”

“Went, duh! Keebo and I had a great time in there.”

“Wh- What?!” the robot cried in horror. “Absolutely not! I would never-”

“Relax, I’m just fucking with you. But I did go.”

I wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth or not but I couldn’t help looking around for the guilty party. “Who else went?” Kaede asked, looking a little unnerved.

I raised my hand. “I think I went but… I don’t really remember it.”

“Didn’t Monokuma say we wouldn’t anyways?” Kaito asked. “Something about having our memories wiped once we left?”

Maki glared at him. “And how would you know about that?”

Kaito had a look on his face like he’d been busted. “Okay, fine. I went. But I don’t remember what happened.” Maki was still glaring at him.

“How did you even manage to win a key?!” Miu cried. “You sucked so much at those games!”

Kaito turned red and started avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room. “I… asked Kirumi to win it for me.”

Kirumi sighed in resignation. “Unfortunately, it’s true. As much as I would have preferred to deny that request, as the ultimate maid, I cannot. But once I obtained the key, I handed it over to Kaito and did not make use of the casino again.”

Maki was still giving the astronaut a dirty look and he squirmed uncomfortably. “Hey, c’mon! I didn’t even know how you felt about me at the time. And… well, I was curious.” He was blushing and looked back down intently at his file. “...was hoping it’d be you though.”

“Does it even matter? I mean… it’s not like anything that happened in there really happened,” Miu spoke up. 

Maki sighed and went back to her file. “Better have been me,” she grumbled.

“We gotta find the footage,” Kokichi cackled. “I’d love to know who did the nasty with who.”

“Anyone else gonna confess?” Ryoma asked, looking amused for once. “I know I did it.” My eyes widened a little. He never struck me as the type who would have been interested. Before I could even ask... “And no. I don’t remember who was there.”

“I went as well,” Korekiyo added. “I remember none of it but I awoke feeling so unpleasant, I refused to try it again.”

Kokichi burst into laughter. “Well, I think we just figured out who was stuck with Miu. Why would you even take the risk, Kiyo?” Both Korekiyo and Miu looked at each other and shuddered, which made me giggle.

“Hope you triple bagged it,” I muttered to him, causing him to shudder again.

“You’re not gonna confess, Kokichi?” Miu fired back, pointing at the trickster. “I know you won one too. I saw you collecting it at the counter when I went to win mine.”

“Nee-heehee! I did win one, but I never used it. I handed it over to Eden.”

Everyone stared, already trying to tell if that was a lie but for once I could confirm it. “Why did you do that anyways?” I asked. 

He shrugged. “I only won it just to prove I could. But I really didn’t wanna use it so gave it to someone who would.”

“And I was your first choice?” I laughed.

“Hey, I already knew you’d banged Kiyo. It was a safe bet you’d put the key to good use.”

“And again we’re talking about it,” Korekiyo grumbled. “Can we please move on from that?”

“Fuck that, I wanna see the footage!” Miu declared, typing vigorously at the computer.

“What?! No! We’re not going to do that!” Kaede exclaimed.

“What’s the matter? Afraid your boytoy detective used that room? You couldn’t expect him not to get his dick wet ever again after you were supposedly dead.”

“Ever again?” Shuichi echoed questioningly, looking back at her.

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. It was the first time there’d been any real banter or teasing between all of us. It felt… so nice. Even if the subject matter was very awkward.

That was until…

“Found it! We got cameras!” 

We all turned back to look at Miu. “Viewing party!” Kokichi declared.

“What?! No!” Kaito cried out, now looking like he was afraid for his life.

“I’d like to see it,” Maki stated flatly, still glaring at him.

“Hell yeah, me too! I wanna know who the fuck was in there with me!” Miu replied, looking at Korekiyo. “For my own personal sanity.”

Korekiyo sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Well… it’s not as though my sanity ever had a fighting chance.”

“And it would be a great case study for your work, Kiyo,” Kokichi pointed out mischievously.

“...I have no intention of taking notes,” he muttered. 

“Wait… we’re not really going to do this, are we?” Keebo stammered. “Those should be private! They shouldn’t have even been filmed at all!”

“Aw c’mon. We’re all adults here. And just think! With Kee-boy’s camera, if he went in there’ll be at least one first-person perspective shot,” Kokichi chuckled.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Miu replied, disconnecting the computer.

“Wait! Where are you taking that?” Kaede exclaimed. 

“To the only place right for this kind of thing. The AV room.”

“Viewing party!” Kokichi declared again, jumping to his feet.

With a shrug, I stood up as well, watching as the rest reluctantly followed. The AV room was similar to the one in the simulation, complete with a projector and couches. While Miu worked to get the computer hooked up, Kokichi and I took a seat next to each other. Korekiyo joined us though whether it was because he wanted to sit with us or it guaranteed he wouldn’t have to sit next to Miu, I wasn’t entirely sure.

Either way it only took a few minutes of setup and soon we could see the inside of the hotel. “Jesus Christ, look at that layout,” I said, needing to laugh. “What happens if you get taken out by a carousel horse on your way to the bed?”

“Who is that even for?” Maki asked. “And why are there so many torture devices?”

“Kehehehe… I know what they’re for.” Korekiyo’s cackle made me smirk a little. 

“You would,” Kokichi replied. “Miu, what gives? Get to the good stuff already!”

“I’m getting there! You have any idea how many hours of recordings are on this thing? Oh! Here we go!” After several seconds of fastforwarding, a figure stepped into view. Surprising no one, it was Miu. “Okay. Let’s see who did it…”

“Start placing your bets!” Kokichi laughed.

“We are  **not** betting on this!” Kaede cried. “It’s bad enough we’re even watching this…”

“Oh lighten up ya prudes. It’s not like we did anything wrong.”

He had a point, and I doubted anyone could truthfully say they weren’t curious. Finally, a second character entered the room and Keebo look horrified all over again. “What?! No! I… I would never…!”

“The tape don’t lie, Kee-boy.”

“You really won a key?” I asked, looking over to him. Keebo was looking extremely uncomfortable and staring at the floor.

“I… I always wanted to know what humans find so fascinating about it.” He hid his face in his hands. “Professor Idabashi would be so ashamed of me.”

“Looks like my question’s finally gonna get answered,” Kokichi interrupted. “Do robots have dicks?”

It only took a few seconds before the question was answered and my eyes widened. “Pretty sure if your creator gave you  _ that _ , it was because he wanted you to use it.”

Keebo peered up from his hands. “You… really think so?”

“Why else would you have it?” Kokichi asked, his tone not mocking for once. “You don’t have a digestive system like we do. There’s no other need for it.”

“I… I guess I never asked,” Keebo confessed. “I was always too embarrassed to.” None of us seemed to find the need to remind him that the professor likely never existed. Talking about him, even with such an uncomfortable scene playing before us, seemed to bring the robot some happiness so there was no need to take that away from him.

What played out on the screen however, took all of us by surprise. Miu was hesitating to undress when she suddenly stopped altogether and covered her face. “What the…” I whispered and Kokichi covered his mouth to hide a laugh.

“I… I changed my mind!” the Miu on the screen whimpered. “I don’t want this! I’m n- not ready… I need to stop…”

The Keebo on the screen seemed flustered as he scrambled to cover himself again. There was some sort of plate over his crotch and once it was covered, he turned back to face Miu, holding his hands up defensively. “I’m sorry! If I’ve done something wrong I-”

“N- No… it’s not you…” Miu was crying and curled up on the bed. “F- Fuck… I’m all talk. Go ahead and laugh at me. Pretty sure this is real fuckin’ funny!”

But Keebo sat next to her, eyes filled with concern. “I never said it was funny. I was just not expecting this. Did I do something wrong?”

She sniffled and shook her head. “I’ve… never done it, okay? Happy?” All of our jaws dropped and Kokichi finally burst into laughter. “I’m the girl genius! I got a future ahead of me! Last thing I need is getting pregnant with someone else’s demon spawn. And… I’m just not comfortable with the idea yet.”

The Keebo on screen did not seem as surprised as the rest of us were in real life but was contemplating her words. “Well… you do push us away a lot. Intimacy would be rather difficult with you.”

“Ehh… don’t word it like that.” She sighed and sat up. “Gonna tell the others I’m one big cock tease, aren’t ya.” 

“What?! No! I’m not that kind of person! In fact I had no intention of breathing a word of tonight to anyone!” He looked around awkwardly. “Is there… anything else I can do for you instead?”

We watched as Miu scooted closer to him and soon the robot had her wrapped up in his arms, comforting her for the rest of the footage. It was… oddly sweet, which was far from what any of us had gone into this expecting.

“Wh- What?” the real Miu stammered. “I couldn’t even do it?” She looked absolutely mortified but Keebo was much more at ease.

“You handled that perfectly,” I complimented him. 

“Thanks,” he murmured, still embarrassed but smiling at least.

“Ugh. Enough with this bullshit. Let’s see who’s next…” The screen began to fast forward again, this time stopping at Kaito entering the room.

“Any last words?” Ryoma asked him jokingly.

Kaito shrank back in his seat and I wondered if we needed to be ready to restrain Maki. Soon the second person entered and Kaito was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Maki was there, and what followed was exactly what we’d expected. There were few words between the two of them before they wound up on the bed, aggressively kissing and stripping each other’s clothes off.

“Aww! See? It was a happy ending after all!” Angie praised them, and when I glanced over, Maki was cuddled up against Kaito who was kissing her forehead.

“Okay, fast forward…” Miu muttered as she rushed through the good part.

“Awww… C’mon!” Kokichi objected.

“You saw enough,” Maki called over to him and I laughed again, taking Kokichi’s hand and giving it a kiss.

Next came Ryoma and… to our collective surprise, Himiko.

“Nyeh…?!” 

“Huh…” Ryoma contemplated. “Can’t say I saw that coming.”

“We should’ve brought popcorn,” Kokichi complained.

On the screen, Himiko seemed to be playing the role of a familiar, speaking to Ryoma as if he were the master she was serving. Though it had all the ingredients to turn into something kinky, what happened instead was adorable. Ryoma started petting her head like a cat and Himiko made pleased little noises, curling up in his lap and savoring the odd manner of affection.

It never turned dirty but I couldn’t help loving it. I knew by now that Ryoma had a love for cats, so Himiko playing the role of a feline-like familiar was oddly perfect. After a while, Himiko had fallen asleep with her head in his lap and Ryoma was smiling peacefully, continuing to pet her.

“What the hell was that?!” Miu scoffed.

“That was so sweet,” I responded. 

“I don’t get it,” Tenko finally spoke up. I’d almost forgotten she was there which was surprising. Out of all of us, I would have expected her to object to this the most. “He had her alone and helpless in that room, and all he wanted was to stroke her hair and make her act like a cat? What kind of sick degenerate perversion is that?!”

“Heeeeeeere we go,” Kokichi groaned.

“It wasn’t perverted,” Ryoma spoke calmly. “I played along with whatever role she chose and in the end she only wanted affection.” He smiled a little. “Kinda reminded me of one of my cats. Assuming I ever had any anyway.”

Miu scoffed again. “Boring. Moving on!”

The screen flickered again as the footage sped through several hours of no activity, then finally we saw Korekiyo enter, sitting on the bed and waiting. 

Then I walked in.

“Ohhh!” Kokichi cheered. “At least we know this one’s gonna be dirty.”

The truth was far from it. Instead I watched as the me on the screen began to frantically try to escape only to be thrown onto the bed. Kokichi’s giddy smile was gone in an instant and my heart began to pound. Was I raped?!

“What the fuck?” Kaito gasped, staring in disgust, but on the screen I’d managed to fight back and knock Korekiyo off of me.

Then the scene that played out was as uncomfortable as it was creepy. Korekiyo was injured and I’d uncovered the whipping marks on his back. Then just as soon as I’d seemed to fall into a false sense of security, a switch had flipped and instantly, Korekiyo... no… his sister, was pinning me on the bed and strangling me.

Just as my body went limp, there came a familiar clicking sound from the door, and it burst open, Kokichi suddenly entering the room and witnessing the scene. Wasting no time, he’d grabbed a nearby bottle, possibly filled with wine or champagne (or whatever was allowed) and struck Korekiyo over the head with it, knocking him out.

Kokichi then climbed over me, checking my body, then picked me up and carried me out of the room.

The room sat in a very uncomfortable silence except for my heart beat still pounding in my ears. “I… don’t even remember going,” Kokichi finally said, looking like even he couldn’t believe it.   
  
“You didn’t,” came an answer, and we turned our heads to see an almost forgotten face staring at us through the door.   
  
“Tsumugi?”   
  
The Ultimate Cosplayer was hugging herself, still wearing her hospital gown. Part of me wondered if she was even supposed to be up. “I cosplayed as Kokichi once I learned Eden and Kiyo were in there.”   
  
My brow furrowed. “Wha-? Why?”   
  
She sighed. “The viewers loved the possible love triangle between the three of you. An encounter in a room like that would have been great for ratings.”   
  
My blood began to boil. Forgetting for a moment that Tsumugi was being manipulated at the time, the fear of what she would’ve done had she walked in on a very different scenario, how far she would take the cosplay, made me sick. And all for ratings?! 

“So cospox was a lie?” Kaede asked, looking just as disturbed as I felt.

Beside me, the couch shifted and Korekiyo was on his feet, fleeing the room before anyone could say anything. I sat frozen, unsure of what to do, but Kokichi was suddenly up as well, grabbing my arm. “C’mon!”

I got to my feet, following him out the door, but Korekiyo was nowhere in sight.


	13. The Pain of Letting Go

I wasn’t not sure how long we looked, but it felt like we’d searched every corner of the facility with no luck. Wherever Korekiyo had gotten to, he did not want to be found. And even though he had been the one to insist on searching, Kokichi was running out of steam and growing tired. “I don’t think we’re gonna find him tonight,” he finally admitted with defeat. “Goddammit.”

I knew this meant we were going to stop. We were going to head back and hope for the best. I wanted to do that. But I couldn’t stop worrying. “Do you think he’s a suicide risk?” I asked bluntly. After everything we’d been through and this new reality we were forced to confront, suicidal thoughts were not that far of a stretch, especially for someone like Korekiyo. In the simulation, he’d built his entire identity around his obsession with his sister, and now he was facing the reality his sister was never real and now he’d just seen the things he’d been capable of when we were still in the pods. None of that was a good thing.

Kokichi frowned and looked around as if hoping the anthropologist would suddenly appear in the hall. “Shit…” he hissed. “Okay… let’s split up. You head back towards the dorms, I’ll keep going this way. Meet back at your dorm in thirty minutes.” 

“Got it.” I turned around and started heading back, checking down every hall and looking behind every door. A number of terrible possibilities were playing through my head. What if he did something to himself? What if he did something to someone else? Would he have a grudge against Tsumugi even though she was just a puppet? 

The more I worried the more I felt sick. For once it didn’t matter what he’d done in the past. All I cared about was making sure he was safe. 

When I got to the hall where our dorms were, a smell caught my attention. It smelled like some sort of incense and it was strong enough I almost gagged. Who the hell was burning incense? When I drew close to Korekiyo’s door, it was overwhelming and I opened it, looking inside.

The furniture had all been pushed against the walls, clearing a large portion of the floor where some sort of magic circle had been drawn in chalk. Incense was burning all around in a suffocating cloud, and in the center of the circle was Korekiyo, his hand resting on top of a wooden stool and a kitchen knife clenched tightly in his other hand.

Immediately I began to dread whatever he had in mind and I drew closer. “Kiyo?”

He didn’t look up at me or show any sign of having heard me. Instead, he stared at his empty hand as if he were bracing himself for something. “I know you’re there,” he said out loud. “You’re not welcome. You need to leave.”

Somehow I knew he wasn’t talking to me and that worried me even more. “Kiyo? What are you doing?” I wanted to get closer but I was afraid of what he would do with that knife.

“This is the end, you understand? I’m making you leave. You’re not welcome. You’re not welcome!” His voice grew more intense and he raised the knife.

I felt my heart begin to hammer but my legs were frozen. “Kiyo, stop! There’s no one there!”

“Get out!” he cried and brought the knife down on one of his fingers. Of course, it wasn’t nearly sharp enough to cut right through as he seemed to be trying to do, and he cried out in pain as he began to move the knife in a sawing motion, determined to cut the top of his finger, right at the first knuckle. 

There was an intercom in every room and I spun around, pounding on the button while hoping there was someone on the other end to hear me. “Please help! I need some help down here!” Korekiyo was still screaming behind me and I felt my stomach flip over. I had to hold it together. I had to get help.

“Stop shouting. What do you want?”

The annoyed voice had to be Byakuya but I ignored his tone. “Kiyo’s hurt himself! We need help down here now! We’re in the dorms!” 

The commotion had of course woken everyone else up and soon I could hear them gathering at the door to see what was going on. Kaede screamed and Kaito barrelled through grabbing on to Korekiyo and prying the knife out of his hands. It didn’t matter though. The tip of his finger was laying on the stool and Korekiyo was bleeding everywhere. “What the hell are you doing?!” Kaito shouted.

“Someone get help!” Keebo exclaimed.

“Someone’s already coming,” I called over. “We gotta stop the bleeding!”

Ryoma was already moving, grabbing a wad of tissues to press against the wound. “What the hell is going on?” he grumbled. “What was he trying to do?”

I didn’t have an answer, but Nurse Mikan was soon in the room, making a panicked rush to him. Somewhere in the scramble to get him to the medical ward, Kokichi turned up, startled by all the commotion and all the blood. “What happened?” he asked as he got out of the way of the others pushing through.

I felt shaky, still hearing Korekiyo’s screams in my head. There was blood all over the stool he’d propped his hand on and while they’d collected the tip of his finger, the knife was still laying where Kaito tossed it. “I… I just found him and… I couldn’t stop him…”

“What did he do?” The trickster was looking around, growing more worried as he took everything in.

“H- He cut off the top of his finger,” I answered, my voice trembling. “It was like he couldn’t even tell I was here. I should’ve stopped him but h- he had a knife…”

Kokichi closed his eyes and hung his head with a frustrated sigh. “Shit…”

I didn’t want to stay in that room so I stepped out, grabbing his hand on the way and heading towards the medical wing with everyone else. By the time I got there, Mikan already had Korekiyo shut in one of the rooms and the others were heading back to their dorms. It was already three in the morning and we were all exhausted.

“I think we should stay,” Kokichi said to me while the others started to take their leave. “He’s gonna need someone when he wakes up.”

I nodded my head, surprised at how easily I could agree to that now, and we walked over to a spot where we could sit side by side. I rested my head on his shoulder and he leaned against me with a yawn. “Must’ve been some kind of ritual,” I finally muttered to break the silence.

“Hmm?” He sounded like he was half-asleep, but was still attempting to listen. “Yeah, probly. Another magic circle… and what the hell was that incense?”

“I’m gonna be smelling that all week.” I cringed, still able to smell it now, like it had seeped into my clothes.

“Was it… like an exorcism?” he asked.

“If it was, it’s not one I’ve ever heard of.” I thought about it for a while when an idea came into my head. It had been a while since I’d brought up a corpse story and truthfully, corpses were the last thing I wanted to think about. But there were still bits of thanatology in my memory and that was easier to talk about. “There is a death ritual,” I began. “It involves cutting off the tips of fingers.”   
  
Kokichi perked up instantly. “Corpse story?”   
  
I shook my head. “No, not really.” I knew it was a stretch but trying to break apart what happened was somehow helping. “In Papua New Guinea, there’s a tribe called the Dani that use it as part of their grief ritual. The women would cut off the tops of their fingers to gratify and expel the spirit of the deceased.” Again, it was a stretch but…

Kokichi shuddered. “And they say there’s no wrong way to grieve…”

I sighed again. “Maybe he was doing some bastardized version of that. It’s the best guess I have.”

I laced my fingers with his, feeling exhausted for so many reasons. There wasn’t even a guarantee we’d be allowed to see Korekiyo once he was awake but I didn’t want to just leave him there. 

“Do you think you’ll ever go back to it?” Kokichi asked after several minutes had passed.

“Back to what?”

“Mortician stuff,” he answered. “After all this shit we went through, think you’ll ever be able to do it again?”

I took a deep breath. “I… I don’t know.” My voice was shaky and my eyes were starting to sting. “I had to handle… bodies of people I cared about and it wasn’t real. I was forced to do that and for wh- what?” I had to wipe my eyes. “Why did they do that to us? None of this is fair! They fucked up our lives. They fucked up our brains… Why? Why did this happen?”

Kokichi reached over to the side table and handed me a box of tissues but I didn’t take any right away.

“I still keep forgetting they weren’t real,” he said after a while. I looked up at him curiously, noticing the pain in his face. “Dice. I’ve got so many memories. Even that feeling I got when I was sure Monokuma had killed them. Sometimes I start to think about how I’ve gotta get outta here and make sure they’re okay. But… then I remember.” He bit his lip and his arm around me tightened a little. “Meant what I said. Before I… before the press. The bastards that did this for entertainment, I hate them all. Whoever did this I just… I wish I could throw them into the pods and force them through the same fucked up shit we went through. But it won’t change anything and that pisses me off even more.”

Without thinking twice, I straightened up a bit and pulled him into a tight hug. I hadn’t seen Kokichi open up so much before but I needed to be reminded that we all were going through the same thing. And we all were hurting for it. It wasn’t just me.

Another hour went by and I began to accept that we likely wouldn’t be allowed near Korekiyo until morning. “Think we’re spending the night in here,” I muttered with a yawn. “Still want to stay?” Deep down I still did but I wasn’t going to make Kokichi do it if he wanted to go to bed.

“I’d want someone waiting for me if I was in his place,” he answered. He looked around, then a smile curled on his lips. “Let’s sneak into one of the rooms.”   
  
I blinked. “What?”   
  
“There’s gotta be more than one room in here, right? They’re only using one. No one’s gonna care if we steal a bed for the night.”   
  
Mikan would likely throw a fit if we did, but sleeping in the chairs would be miserable, if we even could fall asleep in them at all.    
  
I yawned and got to my feet with a stretch. “Let’s do it. I don’t wanna sleep in here.”

Thankfully there wasn’t anyone patrolling the halls, not that I expected it. Instead we found an empty room easily and snuck inside before anyone would notice. Hopefully if someone did notice, they would leave us alone. We needed a break.

I climbed into the bed first and scooted over, realizing we were going to be cramped. The beds weren’t made for more than one person but we were going to make it work anyways. Kokichi slid in next, letting out a yawn as he wrapped an arm around me. “I know you like to overthink when shit like this happens,” he muttered into my hair. “But try to get some sleep. We’re no good to him exhausted.”

I knew he was right, but I doubted I’d be able to fall asleep that easily. Not after what I’d seen. The screams were still ringing in my ears and that damn incense wouldn’t leave my nose. The hall would likely stink for days because of that. I closed my eyes tight, trying to push those intrusive thoughts from my head and despite my doubts, I soon fell into unconsciousness while Kokichi snored softly behind me

* * *

Morning came with a stiff neck and I opened my eyes, feeling panic when I didn’t immediately recognize where I was. I shot upright, my heart starting to pound while I looked around. What was Monokuma doing to me now? Where was I?   
  
But the panic faded as I heard Kokichi roll over beside me. Then I remembered. Incense… blood… screaming… I was in one of the hospital rooms, Kokichi was with me, and Korekiyo was somewhere recovering from what he’d done to himself. 

Was he awake?

I glanced over, debating on whether or not I should wake Kokichi, but he looked too peaceful. With a groan of pain, regretting that we’d picked such a small bed to spend the night, I pulled back the sheets and climbed out of the bed, careful not to wake him. Once I was on my feet, I realized just how sore my whole body was. Maybe it wasn’t just the bed. Stress had been a large problem for too long and even sleep hadn’t helped it much. My joints ached and my back felt as if I’d been carrying a sack full of bricks for days. Everything hurt and I could have killed for a good cup of coffee. That could wait.

My mind was soon on Korekiyo again and I decided I should look for him first. He was probably still sleeping or at least knocked out with whatever they gave him, but I still needed to see him. I made my way out and started wandering down the hall, poking my head into each of the rooms. There weren’t that many as it wasn’t a real hospital, and with the exception of the room Kokichi and I had taken over, they were almost all empty. It didn’t take long to find the only other room with an occupant and when I was sure there was no one else around who would shoo me off, I stepped inside.

Korekiyo was lying motionless on the bed, sleeping peacefully while a machine beeped beside him. The finger he’d cut was now wrapped up in bandaging making it hard to tell if they’d been able to save the piece he’d cut off. When I got closer, I noticed restraints on his wrists and ankles which made me frown. I knew it was for his own safety, but it was a hard thing to see. It made me wonder for a moment what sort of person he had been before the simulation. Mental illness was in his past, but how had he been coping before all this? Would he have been the sort who would have needed to be restrained to a hospital bed? How much of himself had been broken by the simulation? What about Tsumugi? She had been in a horrible state when she’d come out of her pod and up until last night, none of us had seen her out of the hospital wing.

What if all of us were doomed to eventually wind up in a similar situation? Tethered down for our own safety?

Tears were in my eyes again and I forced myself to look somewhere else, knowing I needed to stay far away from that train of thought. 

I stood still for a while, staring out the window to keep my mind off it, but my legs were aching and I knew I couldn’t avoid looking at him forever. Pulling up a chair, I decided to sit beside him until someone would eventually find me and probably make me leave. The sound of the wooden legs scraping against the linoleum floor was what likely woke him because as soon as I was settled I almost jumped to see his eyes were open and looking at me.

“H- Hey… You’re awake,” I stammered, not knowing what else to say.

Korekiyo’s eyes wandered lazily around the room, trying to process where he was. Then he tried to move an arm only to become aware of the restraints around his wrists. I watched as he took it all in, trying to figure out how much he remembered. Eventually he relaxed again and looked at me. His expression was that of defeat.

“Are you in any pain?” I asked after a moment. He shook his head slowly but didn’t speak. I glanced at the bandaged finger again. “Did they save it?”

“I… I don’t remember,” he answered, his voice heavy with exhaustion, likely from the painkillers. “A lot of it is too foggy to recall.”

I nodded my head and returned my attention to his eyes. “Did you see her? Last night?” I needed to know why he did it. Had he been seeing her? Hearing her? Was she still in his head?

“No.” He closed his eyes and looked away from me. “But I needed to make her leave.”

I frowned. “Kiyo… she was never there. She’s not real.”

“Why are you here?”

The question caught me off guard. It wasn’t harsh or annoyed, just not one I was expecting. “Because you scared me. I was there when you did it. Do you remember? I was trying to talk you down but it was like I wasn’t even there.”

“I heard you,” he replied. “I chose not to listen.”

“Clearly.” I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. “Scared the shit out of me. I was afraid you would… I mean when I saw the knife I was afraid you were going to-”

“Make another  _ friend? _ ” His tone was bitter.

“No,” I practically snapped. “I was afraid you were going to do something worse to yourself.”

“Maybe I should have,” he answered quietly. The bitterness was gone and the defeat had returned.

“No!” My voice broke and I scooted closer, grabbing his arm without thinking. He looked at me again as tears rolled down my face. “Fuck! Kiyo, I don’t want you to die! Fuck the simulation! Fuck the fake shit we went through, I don’t want you to die! I never wanted you to die!” I wiped my eyes on my sleeve, wishing there were tissues nearby. “I handled your body once. Don’t make me do it again. Don’t do that to me!”

My words had an effect and I could see it in the way he looked at me, like I’d just cut him. “Why?” he asked, a slight hitch in his voice. “Why should you care what becomes of me? We both saw it last night. What I was capable of. We saw what I almost did.”

“It wasn’t real.”

“It was real enough.”

“But it wasn’t real!” I insisted as if it would help. I knew what he meant. Even if there had been an unspoken truce amongst all of us, we all knew deep down we’d made our own decisions, real or not. I could see in his eyes that very thought was running through his mind and I sighed, knowing what I needed to say. “Kiyo… I forgive you.”

His brow furrowed and he stared at me, clearly looking for the lie. But now that the words had left my mouth, I knew it was true. I didn’t want to hold on to it anymore. It wasn’t helping me and we both needed to move on. “Listen to me,” I said, resting a hand on his bed. “I know it was real enough. I know everything you did, you chose to do. You chose to murder. You chose to lie to me. You chose to hurt me.” My voice wavered and I swallowed over the lump in my throat, determined to make it through this without breaking. “You also chose to be my friend when I was in one of the scariest situations of my life. And when we got out, you chose to apologize. You chose to own up to it and express remorse. You made those choices.” I sat back and took a deep breath. “And maybe I’m naive or stupid but I want to believe in you. I want to believe that there’s more to you than the choices you made back there.”

Tears were rolling down his cheeks and I could swear I heard the door open behind me but I didn’t look. If it was a nurse coming to shoo me away, I wanted to speak my piece before it was too late. “I forgive you, Kiyo. So please… prove me right. I don’t want you to die, and I don’t want to give up on you. I want to believe in you, so if you really meant it when you apologized, then prove me right. And I’ll be there with you every step of the way.”

A hand rested on my shoulder and I finally looked up to see Kokichi’s groggy face and messy bedhead. It was enough to distract me and make me giggle a little. “Better listen to her,” he said to Korekiyo, ignoring me. “If she’s gonna be nuts enough to crush on both of us, we should probably do her a favor and make sure she doesn’t regret that, y’know?”

My face couldn’t turn redder if it tried. I knew he had said he didn’t care about how I felt towards the both of them, but I hadn’t expected him to just blurt that out at a time like this.


	14. Where There is Hope

**(Three Months Later…)**

Healing took time. We would likely never fully heal, but we were trying. We were fighting. Through therapy sessions, late night conversations, and the occasional shenanigans with the others, we were fighting, taking back bit by bit the lives that had been stolen from us. There were nightmares, panic attacks, days when giving up would be the easiest thing in the world. But there was still hope.

Project Veritas lent everyone a hand in finding new places to settle down and start over. Some chose to join their cause, wanting to continue the search for other ultimates who were currently enduring the nightmare we had escaped. Others were ready to just move on and try to have a normal life. 

In the end, when it came time to rejoin the outside world, the bonds between us were nearly fully mended. Whether Kokichi really would follow his dream to become the ultimate supreme leader (of evil) or whether Korekiyo would return to his fieldwork again, endlessly searching to find all of humanity’s beauty, one thing was certain. It had been the three of us in the beginning, and it would be the three of us in the end. That was our choice. So we got a place to ourselves, the three of us.

“What time do I need to get you to the airport,” I asked one night, sinking down to sit behind Korekiyo on the floor. I slipped my arms around his waist and rested my chin against one of his shoulder blades- even sitting he was still taller than me.

“I’m afraid we should leave around four in the morning,” he answered, resting his hand on one of my arms and closing his laptop. “Rantaro will be meeting me there as well.” The two of them had decided through their mutual wanderlust that their first trip away should be one they shared together. One day, I hoped to join Korekiyo, but I wasn’t ready yet, a sentiment Kokichi shared. He had begun to form his own underground group and leaving them, even for a few days to take a trip, was out of the question for him. He was too determined to follow his dream.

I hadn’t decided yet if I would go back to my line of work. I knew I wasn’t ready yet, but was open to the idea that maybe one day I would be.

“You nervous?” I asked him. He chuckled and twisted around to face me.

“Truth be told, I’m rather excited,” he stated, stroking my cheek. “It’ll be good to return to what I’m good at.” 

“I’m glad,” I murmured and leaned in to lightly peck his cheek. His cheeks still turned pink at any acts of affection and I secretly loved it.

The front door opened and Kokichi walked in with two sacks of groceries. “You actually did the shopping?” I asked in surprise.

“Nehehe! You wish. I ran out of Panta,” he answered as he opened the fridge and began to put away a stash of purple bottles.

“Good thing I still have enough to make curry,” I muttered and stood up, walking over to close the door he’d left open. The second bag was still sitting on the kitchen floor and I noticed whatever was inside was definitely not soda. As if noticing I was staring at it, Kokichi picked up the bag and carried it over to Korekiyo, dropping it next to him.

“Here. I got you something for the trip.” 

Korekiyo raised an eyebrow and cautiously opened the bag to look inside. He pulled out an obnoxiously purple blanket that, to Kokichi’s credit, looked extremely soft to the touch. “Airplane blankets are scratchy as hell, and they make you pay for them now, y’know. Figured if anyone’s gotta spend money on a blanket, might as well be a good one.”

I smiled, feeling my heart flutter even as the trickster tried to play it off as if he’d done nothing special. Korekiyo smiled as well, running his fingers over the fabric with a contented sigh. “You know very well I have my own blankets… but I will admit none of them are as soft. Or colorful.” He looked back up at Kokichi. “You have my gratitude.”

Shortly after, I set about preparing dinner while Kokichi pestered Korekiyo about making sure he brought back souvenirs for us and after a relatively quiet meal, we decided to turn in early, knowing it would be miserable enough, making sure we got Korekiyo to the airport on time. 

That night, laying between the two of them in a bed that somehow managed to fit the three of us, I was able to feel at peace. This was where I belonged. Despite all the pain and chaos, and despite the long road I knew I still had ahead in regards to recovery, this was where I belonged. Laying between the two men I’d grown to love and knowing I was truly home.

And knowing that, despite it all, there would always still be hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to those who read this, left kudos, and left comments. This one took a while for me to write and by the end I was emotionally drained. I hope you were able to enjoy it anyways.


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